A Summer in Chicago
by charmed kitty
Summary: DC, Kate and Tess focused story taking place in the present. Twins are 6.5 yrs old Doug, Carol, Kate and Tess are vacationing in Chicago. See AN inside for more particulars. Please r&r!
1. Seattle

_A/N – I'm writing this story because everyone could use a good Kate and Tess fic every now and then. Personally I haven't really watched much ER (except the final Mark episodes) since Season 6… so that's why I'm sticking with these particulars:_

**1.**Kate and Tess both moved to Seattle when Carol married Doug (yes, they're married)  
**2.**Doug and Carol did not have, or try to have any more children  
**3.**Everybody from Season 5 is still there (and healthy!)  
**4.**Nobody from Seasons 6-present has arrived or left with the exception of Susan Lewis  
**5.**Mark and Elizabeth are married but no Ella, Rachel lives with them but no drug problem!  
**6.**This takes place at the present time, so Rachel is about 17, Kate and Tess are 6 ½

_Second A/N (sort of a disclaimer/warning) – Okay, obvious disclaimer… I don't own any of the ER characters… any characters you read and you're like, "who the heck is that!" those would be mine and I forbid anyone from using them in their fics without permission from me! Warning is I am not now, nor have I ever been a twin so I really don't know what that relationship is like… but I do have 4 sisters. Also, this is my first ER fic so please be kind… or if you're going to be harsh… be harsh in a kind way please._

Seattle, Washington- June 2006

"Mommy, she stole my shorts!" An exuberant 6-year-old squealed. "Mommy! Mommy, come here! She stole my shorts, Mommy!"

"Tess, your mommy is packing right now," Doug Ross calmly said as he walked into the room shared by his twin daughters. A fight of this nature was not abnormal in the Hathaway-Ross household, but Doug scarcely had the opportunity to witness said fights as he was usually out the door just after 7am. "Kate, give me the shorts."

"But they're mine, Daddy!" Kate protested. Both were certainly averagely rambunctious for their age, but Tess seemed to have a very short fuse, while Kate would let things build up inside of her until she had a big tantrum. "See it says K-A-T-E right there!"

Doug took the tiny pink shorts from Kate's hands and looked at the tag in the back, which Carol always took great care to inscribe with their names should a fight such as their present one ever come up. Raising his eyebrows at Kate he looked over to her twin and shook his head, "Sorry kiddo, it does say Kate."

"What? Let me see those!" Tess cried and snatched them out of Doug's hand. Sure enough the precious pink shorts had her sister's name neatly printed on the tag. She couldn't believe she'd been wrong; they looked like her pink shorts. "**Fine!** I don't like your stupid pink shorts anyway!"

Doug shook his head as he watched Tess storm away, she was most likely going to her mother's room for a hug. Checking his watch again he grimaced and looked down at the utter mess the twins had made of their identical suitcases. "Didn't anyone ever teach you two how to pack?"

"Daddy, we're only six." Kate giggled as she slid her legs into the shorts. She wanted to be sure to wear them on the first day of their trip, primarily to drive her sister crazy. Accepting the fact that Doug would finish packing for her, she ran down the hall to find her mother.

"And they looked like mine and I wanted to wear my pink shorts today and they said Kate inside and I can't find my pink shorts and it's not fair!" Tess sobbed.

"Tess… sweetie, I know… oh, I know… but it's okay. Really, it's okay. Would it make it better if I found your pink shorts too? Auntie Elizabeth would love to see you both in the pink shorts she bought you." Carol reassured.

"Okay!" Tess grinned, hopping off the bed and running back to her room, stopping to stick her tongue out at Kate on the way. "Mommy's going to find my pink shorts too!"

"I thought you said they were stupid!" Kate teased back.

"No, just your shorts are stupid!" Tess yelled as she ran through the door. Both Kate and Tess had long, curly, dark hair like their mother, but had their father's skin tone, and sometimes his personality seemed to jump right out of them; particularly when they weren't going to get what they wanted.

Carol spotted Kate running towards her and scooped her up into her arms. Kate was definitely excited about their trip, but looking at her daughter she chuckled, "Kate, did we forget something this morning?"

"No." Kate answered back, confused.

"Are you sure?" Carol prodded. Kate looked around as she was carried to her room, wondering what she'd forgotten to do.

"Yes." Kate replied.

"Okay…" Carol laughed as she saw Doug repacking their suitcases. "Here Doug, take your topless daughter."

Doug reached out and took Kate from Carols arms, "Guess I missed that one, huh?" he asked her as she laughed. He pulled out a pink and blue shirt that matched her shorts from the small suitcase that had the name Kate printed on the front with little pink and purple hearts surrounding it. Checking the tag, he showed it to the room and announced, "It says Kate," before putting it on his daughter.

An hour later, they were all packed and ready to go; well as ready as they possibly could be. A 3-month-long vacation in Chicago would be an exciting adventure, but it could also be a potentially hazardous situation with two children under the age of 10 who loved the feel of their own beds and blankies so much, they'd once packed up the SUV with their blankies and bed sheets for use in the hotel just to get the twins out the door.

"Okay girls, what's the rule when we're at the airport?" Doug asked, as the shuttle driver pulled away from the curb and headed down the street.

"Run around and make a lot of noise!" they answered in unison.

"That's right…" Doug replied with a gleam in his eye. Carol slapped him and turned to look at her grinning daughters.

"Okay, what's the rule we're going to **follow** when we're at the airport, girls?" Carol asked, not surprised when she heard two defeated sighs.

"Sit quietly and don't go anywhere without a grown-up." They again replied together, their voices squeaking towards the end.

"Can I have a coloring book, Mommy?" Tess asked. She couldn't remember how long it took to get to the airport, but even the 5 minute drive to school seemed like a long one, and she knew it had to be longer than the drive to school.

"Can you?" Carol said, giving her daughter the eye.

"MAY I have a coloring book, Mommy?" She repeated, and then catching her mother's eye she added a loud, "Please!"

"Yes you may; Kate would you like your coloring book too?" Carol asked as she handed Tess a book and a box of crayons.

"Yes please!" she replied, happy that she hadn't been caught forgetting to say please. She took her book and box of crayons and began coloring in a garden of flowers.

Tess loved her coloring book and was hard at work on a masterpiece, a princess and her castle, with lots of stars in the sky to make all different colors. She'd finished the princess and was just beginning on the stars when it was announced that they needed to pack up their crayons and coloring books because they'd arrived at their destination, the airport. Kate and Tess obediently put their things into their twin carry-on back packs and looked out the windows, hoping to see something interesting as they pulled up to the curb.

"Let's get out girls," Doug said, standing on the sidewalk, ready to lift the first child out of the van. That child was Tess, and after being put onto the sidewalk, she grabbed her bag and began to run over to the constantly opening doors of the airport.

"Hold it right there, missy." Carol said, jogging to catch up to Tess and take her by the hand. "We're all going in together."

"But that could take forever!" Tess pleaded, "Kate, don't you want to go inside right now?"

"Nope," her twin replied, satisfied to be in Doug's arms for the time being. She had already gotten comfortable and had her arms firmly wrapped around him, not wanting to let go. Doug knew it would never work so he pried her arms away and set her on the ground. Each twin had her carry-on backpack on, and was rolling her suitcase behind her as Doug and Carol tried to hold their hands while carting 2 large suitcases a piece. Security was as much of a hassle as it had been since 9/11, and almost more with the mandate that they'd need to take off their shoes and put them through the x-ray machines as well. This did not bode well for the other passengers in line as Kate and Tess promptly refused to remove their pink sandals with the large white daisies on the sides. Carol sighed and grabbed Kate while Doug was a little less calm and picked up Tess. They both thanked the shoe company silently for manufacturing the shoes with Velcro and in an instant the shoes were ready to go through the machine and Tess, then Kate walked through the metal detector, neither setting off the alarm. They then, excitedly, grabbed their shoes from the bin and began to put them on again.

"First timers?" the kind woman asked as Carol stepped through the metal detector with an apologetic smile on her face.

"Pretty much," she replied, "The last time they were on an airplane they were 3."

"Well you have a nice trip now," the woman said as the family of four got their shoes back on and headed up the escalator to their terminal, each now only carrying their respective carry-on bags as they'd needed to check the suitcases for their long flight.

"Thank you." Doug called over his shoulder as he jogged to catch up with his family. He saw what was going to happen, even before it happened as Carol stepped off the escalator followed by Tess and Kate who were holding hands. Both girls lost their balance and went down on the floor just in front of the escalator. Carol grabbed both girls by the waist and pulled them to the side to let the other travelers through. Each was equally stunned at what had just happened, and almost instantly they began to blame each other. There were no injuries save tiny bruises that were beginning to form on their knees; primarily it was just their pride that had been injured.


	2. Turbulence

After they'd settled the girls into their seats on the large plane, Doug and Carol took flanking positions in the middle seat in each row. This, at the very least, would prevent any fighting for the window seat as they'd each have their own window; and make it harder for them to escape to the aisle. Carol sat next to Kate, with Doug sitting next to Tess in the row directly in front of her. Immediately after the announcements by the captain and flight attendants, Kate and Tess pulled their trays down and began coloring in their coloring books again. Doug, turned his head back and put his arm up and over his head, Carol took a hold of it and gave it a squeeze.

They'd been in the air for about half an hour when the predictable happened. The girls were tired of being on the plane and more than ready for their flight to be over so they got whiney and loud. Since there was nobody in the aisle seat in either of the two rows, Doug and Carol moved over a seat so that their daughters would have more room to spread out.

"Mommy, why do I have to sit next to Daddy? I want to sit next to you!" Tess whined as she unbuckled herself and stood on her seat facing back where her mother was.

"Tess, sit down," Doug said quickly as he grabbed her by the waist and placed her back in the seat, buckling her in again, then began tickling her as he asked, "Don't you love your Daddy too?"

"No! I want to sit with Mommy!" She insisted, kicking her legs and struggling to undo the seatbelt again.

Nearby a baby had begun to fuss and Doug shook his head, it was going to be a very long flight with another 3 hours to go before they'd be in Chicago. "Tess, you're going to sit with Mommy on the flight home, okay?"

"No! I want to sit with her now! How come Kate gets to and not me? No fair, no fair, no fair!" She squealed as she bounced up and down in her seat more. Struggling to get out of the seatbelt, she managed to push back hard enough in her seat with her foot on the recline button that she dipped backwards slightly and the picture Kate had been coloring wound up with a long yellow mark across it. It was then that Kate decided to fight back by kicking her sister's seat.

"Stop it, Tess! You made me mess up my picture!" she cried. At that point, half of the passengers had turned their attention to the two little girls and their parents, and none of them looked especially thrilled. "Mommy, look what she did to my picture!"

"Kate! Tess! If I don't have silence in the next two minutes, neither of you are going to be getting your allowance on this whole trip." Carol said firmly. There was silence immediately following that announcement and Doug did his best to apologize in a silent way to the passengers around him, so as not to upset the girls any further. An hour later they were halfway through the flight and both girls were sound asleep, spread out over the two seats. Doug had taken that time to invite Carol over to his seat and there she sat on his lap as they took some much needed cuddle time. Sitting together with a sleeping child at their left, they looked into each others eyes, each remembering back 8 years when they hadn't even conceived a child. How peaceful and romantic those times had been. Carol gave Doug one last kiss before heading back to the next row, the girls should have something to drink soon, and she saw the flight attendants canvassing the plane for interest in drinks and snack food.

"Tess, do you want some juice or water?" Doug asked as he rubbed her back, waking her up. The flight attendant smiled as she looked at the father being so sweet to his daughter and patiently waited as she woke up and made up her mind.

"Can I… I mean may I have some apple juice?" she asked, remembering to add the "please" after a couple seconds.

"Sure you can sweetie." The flight attendant replied as Doug asked for a soda and handed her a plastic cup with the name 'Tess' written on it in purple. This cup had a straw attached to the lid and was nearly spill-proof; the flight attendant laughed and accepted the cup for the juice.

Carol, who was having a little bit tougher time waking up Kate handed the woman a similar looking cup with the name 'Kate' written on it in pink. "Could I get a tomato juice and if you could possibly put some orange juice in here for her?"

"Sure," she replied and went on to the other passengers. A few minutes later she was back and looking a bit confused, not sure which cup belonged to which twin. Carol silently mouthed, 'pink' to the woman, not wanting her daughter Tess to get upset at the confusion; Kate, who was still satisfied asleep, would have minded had she been awake. Smiling the woman mouthed 'thank you' and handed Carol the tomato juice and pink cup of orange juice. Tess was delighted when not only did the flight attendant give her the apple juice in her very own cup, but she even called her by her name.

"Thank you!" Tess squeaked as she began to sip her juice. Doug took his soda and took a sip, smiling at the situation. Two quiet kids and they wouldn't land for at least a half an hour; things were going smoothly; of course that meant that something needed to go wrong before long.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are approaching Chicago, O'Hare airport. Please put your seatbacks and tray tables in their upright and locked position, the flight attendants will be coming around to collect any trash you have, we should be on the ground shortly." The announcement came over the speakers and Doug helped Tess put her toys back into her bag. Their seatbelts were refastened and he gave her a ½ piece of gum to help her ears with the transition from the air to the ground.

Doug held the other half of the gum over his head and said with a grin that went generally unnoticed, "Gum for 'Twin B'."

"Thanks babe," Carol said as she took the gum from his hand, but didn't let go until she'd given his hand a small kiss and another squeeze. Carol knew that waking up her still sleeping daughter, who had not felt the need for juice, so that they could buckle her up and have a safe landing would be a difficult task. Kate didn't tend to take naps, so when she was asleep she was down for the count as it were. "Kate, come on sweetie, time to sit up. We're going to be in Chicago really soon and we can see Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth."

"No!" Kate protested as she felt her mother sit her up in her seat. A large frown on her face she picked up the blanket that had been on top of her and held onto it with one hand as she stuck the opposite thumb in her mouth.

This was not typical for either girl, they'd both generally stopped sucking their thumbs at the age of 2 and Carol leaned forward in her seat, tugging in Doug's arm slightly. "Houston, I think we've got a problem."

As if on cue, Kate let out an ear-piercing wail, "I don't want to go to Chicago! I want to go home! I want to go home! Home! Home! Mommy! Mommy I want to go home! Mommy! Daddy! Home! Home!"

Tess, listening to the tantrum her sister was throwing spoke in a loud, clear voice, "Aren't you glad I'm being a good girl and not a little baby, Mommy? Aren't you glad I'm the good daughter? Don't you wish you were sitting next to me and not Kate the baby?"

"I'm not a BABY! I want to go home!" Kate screamed. "I WANT HOME! MOMMY! HOME!"

"Baby wants to go ho-o-me!" Tess teased, getting into it, finally not being the one who was whining.

"Tess, you're not helping." Doug warned as Kate continued crying.

"Kate, you love seeing Auntie Elizabeth and Uncle Mark, remember?" Carol tried to reassure her screaming child before they attracted anymore unwanted attention from the passengers who had been giving them dirty looks through much of the flight. "Come on Kate, look Daddy even gave me some nice gum for you to chew on, okay?"

"NO! I WANNA GO HOME!" she protested as she began hiccupping, the tears cascading down her cheeks. Carol unbuckled herself from her seat and moved over to the seat next to Kate and, buckling herself back in, hugged her daughter as best she could while still keeping both of them in seatbelts. As the plane started its descent, Kate stopped crying, but continued the thumb sucking. The passengers who had been subjected to Kate and Tess walked by angrily, giving each Carol and Doug dirty looks while mumbling under their breaths that even the infant on board had been relatively quiet.

When the last few people still on the plane made their ways towards the front and passed them, one muttered rather loudly, "Little brats… can't even sit quietly for 5 minutes… stupid kids."

This set Doug off and he called out to the man who had moved further up towards the exit, "Hey buddy, those are my kids you're talking about!"

Carol quickly rose and put her hand on Doug's arm. "Just let it go Doug, he's a jerk, but let's just get the girls and go, Mark and Elizabeth are going to be waiting a long time if you go after that guy and get arrested. Haven't we had enough for one day?"

"You're right, I'm sorry." Doug said, giving her a hug and a kiss. "G-d you're beautiful; I'm a lucky guy, huh?"

"Luck had nothing to do with it," she smiled, giving in to a longer and more passionate kiss. They were broken apart by an 'ewww' from Tess and Doug reached down to grab his carry-on after helping Tess with hers. Kate, who was still upset from the trip, had obediently put her carry-on over her shoulders. After Carol did the same with hers, she picked up the child and decided it might just be easier to carry her through the airport than risk another big blow up.

Tess walked towards the exit first, proudly boasting to the flight attendants, "I was the good one, I didn't even cry once about home."

Doug smiled and apologized to the attendants who looked a little haggard from the flight. "I'm really sorry about all this."

"Don't worry about it," a woman said with a smile plastered on her face, "happens all the time with kids."

Doug could tell she wasn't really thrilled with his apology and he reached into his pocket for some cash and shook her hand, slipping her a 20, "I'm really sorry, they're first timers."

The woman nodded her head with a genuine smile and accepted his 'apology' as Carol carried Kate, who still had a firm grip on the blanket, by them. The woman who was about to ask for the blanket back, as it was property of the airlines thought better of it and was just happy to have everyone off the plane, especially the screaming twins, "Bye-bye now, thanks for flying, hope to see you next time."


	3. Baggage Claim

They walked through the airport; Mark and Elizabeth had planned to meet them at the baggage claim at 4pm, but it was only 3:45 so they knew they had a little bit of time. Carol took that time to suggest they all take a 'potty' break, since neither of the girls had been on the plane and it was a good long drive from the airport to their destination. Carol took the girls with her and left Doug with the carry-on's, as usual he was waiting for the three women in his life. He sat against the wall with a goofy grin on his face remembering back to the days when waiting for three women meant something much different. It used to mean a night getting hammered at a bar, then an eventful night at his place, or sometimes at her place… then his place.

"Daddy," Doug was snapped out of his memories by Tess who had her hands on her hips and had an annoyed expression on her face. She pushed down on his knees and he obediently straightened his legs and allowed her to sit down on his lap. "Can we go and see Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth now?"

"We have to wait for your mommy and your sister, you know that." Doug said, running his finger down her button nose and giving her raspberries on the cheek. As she broke out in uncontrollable giggles, Doug wondered what was taking Carol and Kate so long. He also knew that he couldn't leave Tess alone in the airport, "Tess, why don't you go and see what's taking Mommy and Kate so long?"

"Fine." She said and headed back into the ladies room. Doug took that opportunity to head to the men's room, finding a way to carry the four backpacks over his neck and shoulders. When he returned he saw Tess walking back out, arms folded and a sour expression on her face. "Can't we just go now?"

"Well are mommy and Kate ready?" he prodded.

"No. So can't we just go and then they'll catch up, please?" Tess begged, not wanting to stand around longer. Doug could tell instantly that there was something Tess wasn't telling him, and if he didn't ask in the right way he was in for a crying scene.

"Did mommy ask you to go meet Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth with me?" Doug asked, looking her in the eyes. He knew that if he got her looking into his eyes she'd tell the truth, it was something that had come in very handy over the years.

"No, she said we have to wait until she gets Kate cleaned up." Tess admitted.

"Did Kate have an accident?" Doug asked, hoping the answer would be no. He didn't know if he had the strength to deal with another fight between the two and that would certainly cause it.

"No, she threw up all over the place. It was really gross." Tess admitted with a disgusted face. "You should have seen it, you would have laughed too."

"You laughed?" Doug asked, shaking his head and heading towards the door. He then asked Tess, "Were there any other people in there besides Mommy and Kate when you left?"

"I don't know, I don't think so." Tess said as she saw Doug placing his hand on the door handle. "Daddy! You can't go in there! That's the ladies room! You'll get sent to the principal's office if you go in there and you're a boy!"

Doug opened the door, standing outside and averting his eyes, "Carol? Everything okay in there?"

"Doug?" Carol called back before appearing at the door momentarily, "Could you just take Tess to meet Mark and Elizabeth, it's 4 o'clock."

"Everything okay?" he asked as he heard the sounds of Kate crying. "Do you need anything?"

"Actually, if you could hand me our carry-on bags that would be great." Carol admitted. Handing her the carry-on bags, Doug looked hesitant, so she reassured him, "We'll catch up, don't worry."

"Doug! Hey, Doug, over here!" a friendly and familiar voice called. Doug was slightly relieved to see Mark and Elizabeth and very surprised to see the two with luggage in front of them. "We got your bags."

"How did you know it was our stuff?" Doug asked, checking each bag, noting that it was in fact their luggage.

"Well when there's nobody at the baggage claim and 6 bags left with the same silver ribbon on each… not to mention that two of them had names on the front." Elizabeth admitted, pointing at Kate and Tess' brightly colored luggage, before turning her attention to Tess. "Look how big you've gotten! Oh, you look just like your mommy, don't you?"

"I'm even bigger then Kate got. I am a whole inch taller!" Tess said excitedly. Meanwhile, Elizabeth thanked herself for getting Tess to indicate which twin she was, or she might have called her by her twins name instead. "I'm even wearing the shorts you got us Auntie Elizabeth!"

"You are, and don't you look pretty?" Elizabeth said, as Tess showed off the entire ensemble. She talked to Tess as Mark looked around for Carol and Kate.

"Where's Carol?" he asked Doug, pulling him away from Tess to talk to him, incase it was a subject that Tess shouldn't hear about.

"Oh, she'll be here shortly. Kate got a little sick, but better on the ground then in the air… or in your car." Doug said as Carol approached with Kate in her arms. Kate no longer had the blanket from the plane, but had her thumb back in her mouth as her head rested on Carol's shoulder. Carol had her own carry-on over her shoulder while the smaller carry-on was dangling on her arm.

"Doug, could you?" Carol asked as she tried to hand him Kate's carry-on bag from her arm, gently shifting Kate to get the bag off.

"Hi Kate," Elizabeth said softly, after hearing a much more descriptive story about what had happened from Tess, including color and texture descriptions. Mark was now getting the whole rundown of the days events from the stolen shorts to the more recent events. Elizabeth looked at the pale, pink cheeked and somewhat moist child, asking, "Does she have a fever?"

"Just a mild one, I think it's from the little problem we had on the flight," Carol whispered as she rubbed Kate's back.

"Poor thing," Elizabeth said as she grabbed the handle on one of the 6 bags, "It's not fun to feel ill in a strange place, is it?"

Mark watched in amusement as Tess grabbed her suitcase and began wheeling towards the doors of the airports, pausing to say, "Can we go already?"

Doug grabbed 2 of the bags, realizing that Kate was probably not going to walk to the car on her own and that meant Carol barely had one free hand and couldn't take any of the bigger pieces of luggage with her. "Tess, wait for me please."

"Doug, I can take Kate's suitcase." Mark said as he watched his friend try to juggle a tiny carry-on backpack and three suitcases. "Elizabeth and I have got this; you'd better go grab Tess before she hails a cab and is somewhere downtown."

Doug grinned and chased after Tess, who was almost out the door. Grabbing her in a big bear hug, he held onto her luggage and he carried her back to the group, surprised and pleased to find all the luggage had been piled onto a luggage cart. "Now that's what I call service, Mark."

"Well, you know me, I'm all about organization." Mark said jokingly. They headed out for the van and were surprised to see booster seats sitting all set up. "Uh, are they going to be okay with this? It's Illinois state law."

"Yah, we have them back in Seattle, too." Doug said, helping Tess into her seat. "So, where are we headed?"

"Well, we were going to go to County, but maybe we should head home first?" Elizabeth answered as she backed the van up and headed for the freeway.

"No, we can go to County. It's not a problem, Elizabeth." Carol reassured as she sat between Kate and Tess. "Trust me; this is not a big deal."


	4. Surprises

It took about an hour to get from the airport parking lot to County General, and the twins were silent most of the trip, with Tess reading a book and Kate sleeping off the airplane ride. Doug had the sneaking suspicion that something had been planned in the ER for their arrival by Mark. He was constantly checking his messages along the trip, and seemed like he was hiding something whenever Doug tried to engage him in a conversation about who would be on duty when they arrived. Tess was eager to go inside and see where her parents worked before she was born. The twins had both been to the hospital Carol worked at and seen their father's office, often decorating it with their paintings and drawings; so a hospital was nothing new or scary for them.

"Mommy, I was born here right?" Tess asked loudly. "I was, right and Kate was born somewhere else, right?"

"Indoor voices, Tess," Carol said, putting a hand softly on Tess' arm to achieve the desired calming affect. "You were born in the ER, but Kate was born in the same hospital, just a different part of it."

"But I was born first, right?" she asked in a loud whisper. Not receiving an immediate response, she asked again loudly, "Mommy? I was born first, right?"

"Tess!" Carol chided. "What did I just tell you about indoor voices? I was looking for something in my backpack; you don't need to yell, okay?"

Tess sniffled, her lower lip quivering. "But I just wanted to know if I was born first or Kate and you didn't have to get mad and it's not fair I have to be quiet because of Kate and I just wanted to know and you said I should be quiet and I was and you didn't answer me!"

That was when the dam broke and tears flowed freely out of Tess' wide eyes as she wailed, waking up her sister and prompting Elizabeth to ask if they should stop for a bit so everything could be figured out. After assuring Elizabeth that this was nothing out of the ordinary, Carol calmed Tess down with an apology and by answering her question, "Yes, Tess you were born first."

"So I'm the big sister, right?" Tess asked, trying to figure out a good volume for her voice after calming down.

"Yes, you are the big sister, Tess." Carol replied, looking to Doug for help in dealing with the two girls who would no doubt cause a commotion in the ER. They pulled up to the hospital and Doug opened the van door as Mark and Elizabeth got out. "Kate, do you want to walk in like a big girl or do you want me to carry you?"

"Carry me Mommy! Carry me!" Tess insisted, after realizing that it would mean Kate wouldn't be leading the way through the big glass doors with her.

Kate began to cry slightly and put her arms out to Carol, who pulled her hair into a partial ponytail before pulling her out of the van. "Kate, we're just going into the ER, it's just like where I work in Seattle, and you're going to get to see all Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth's friends, okay?"

"Carry me too!" Tess insisted again.

"I can't right now sweetie, but your Daddy could carry you if you want." Carol said, holding onto Kate and rubbing her back.

"No! I don't want to get carried like a baby! Me and Daddy are going to walk in, aren't we?" she asked Doug, placing her small hand in his.

"That's right Tess, we don't need no Mommy's to carry us!" he said with a warm smile as they followed Mark through the doors. "Wow, this place sure has changed, hasn't it?"

"Well, you have been away for over half a decade, Doug." Mark said, giving his best friend a punch in the arm as he led the group to the lounge. "Hello? Is there anybody in here?"

"Mark, if you're going to throw us a surprise party you're going to have to be a little less obvious then that." Doug said, chuckling as they headed towards the dark room.

"SURPRISE!" The group of doctors and nurses shouted as the six walked into the room. Tess' eyes grew large as she saw the enormous sheet cake sitting on the table.

"Daddy look! They got us a cake!" Tess exclaimed, completely bypassing the fact that there were tons of 'new' faces just waiting to meet her.

Not to be outdone by her twin, Kate chose that moment to whimper, "Mommy my tummy feels bad."

Hugs and greetings would have to wait for Carol who was already halfway out the door as Kate finished the sentence. As she disappeared into the ladies room, Doug was happy to get hugs and kisses from Chuny, Haleh, Carter, Susan and most of the rest of the ER staff. When it came to Kerry he awkwardly stuck out his hand, and she took it. "Good to see you again Doug. And who is this? Tess?"

"That's me!" Tess said, holding onto Doug's leg with one arm as she looked at the metal crutch attached to Kerry's arm she said, "What's that thing for?"

Everyone laughed nervously, watching this interaction but Kerry answered simply, "It helps me walk."

"Oh." Tess thought for a moment before offering some helpful advice, "My Daddy's a doctor. He can fix it. Go fix it Daddy."

"Tess, we're on vacation remember? I'm not supposed to fix people on vacation or Mommy might get mad." He said, with a wink to Kerry. It had been a few minutes since Carol had fled the room with Kate, and Tess was having a great time explaining her adventures from Seattle to Chicago to her rather captive audience, but Doug was feeling impatient and concerned. Seeing the concern on Doug's face, not wanting to interrupt the others who were back to work or enjoying Tess' stories; Kerry pulled Doug aside for a moment.

"Do you want me to go check on them?" she asked. Seeing Doug wince and try to cover it up she confronted him, "Doug, it's been 6 years… I delivered your daughter… trust me."

Doug scratched his head, knowing that it would be prudent to let her go check on his wife and daughter, "Sure, that would be nice, thanks Kerry."

"Carol?" Kerry asked, knocking on the door as she opened it, not sure what she'd find. "Carol, is everything okay in here?"

"Kerry?" A strained voice asked. As she walked into the room, lined with stalls she saw a dark haired girl seated on a counter as her mother wiped at her face with a wet paper towel.

"Hi," she said to the unhappy looking child. She was amazed at how much both girls looked like Carol, she'd seen it first in Tess, but with identical twins, often times she didn't notice the distinct similarities until she began to analyze their differences in order to be able to tell them apart. "You don't look like you feel too good. Could I see?"

Carol was about to object, but Kerry had already moved over to Kate, feeling her forehead and the back of her neck. "We had a rough flight, and now we're feeling just a little bad in our tummies, huh Kate?"

Kate nodded silently as Kerry continued to examine her. "I bet you'd feel a lot better if your mommy let a doctor take care of you."

"Kerry really, you don't have to. Doug is…"

"Carol, this is a hospital full of doctors, just let someone take a look at her to be sure." Kerry said in her overbearing, patronizing and somewhat dismissive way.

"Does your tummy feel any better?" she asked her daughter. With an affirmative nod, she picked Kate up said, "Is Susan around?"

"Sure, I think she's at the desk, Carol." Then turning back, "Would you like me to tell Doug?"

"Oh, no. No, don't worry about it Kerry… thank you, but I don't want to pull him away from everyone. It's been so long since we've seen you all." She sighed, "And Tess needs all the supervision she can get."

"Hey Carol," Susan said with a friendly smile as Carol approached the once familiar desk, "And who is this big girl?"

"This is Kate, and she's got a little tummy ache from the plane," Carol said, shifting Kate to give Susan a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Kerry suggested I have her checked out."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Susan said with a sarcastic tone in her voice as she led Carol over to a bed. Carol set Kate down, who wasn't the least bit interested in protesting the actions for once. "Kate, my name is Dr. Lewis and I'm a friend of your Mommy and Daddy's; can you tell me where it hurts?"

Kate shook her head and waited for the next question. She knew how doctors' appointments went; the doctor asked where it hurt and no matter what you told them they always gave a shot or stuck a thermometer somewhere it didn't belong.

"Kate, it's okay, this is my friend Susan and she's really nice. If you want to feel better, she can help you; and maybe if you feel better we can have some of that cake that Tess saw in the lounge." She paused, waiting for a reaction. "What do you think?"

Kate looked at her mother silently, her big brown eyes threatening to overflow once again with tears. She knew she had to obey her mother's instructions, but didn't like the idea that she was being forced to have a doctor's appointment. "It feels bad in my tummy and my head."

"Your head too, sweetie?" Carol asked, now much more concerned then previously. "Does your head hurt like bonking it into something, or does it feel bad like when you spin around too much?"

"Like spinning too much," she quietly admitted. She wasn't sure what kind of shot she was going to get, but at that moment she wished she was back home in Seattle and she and Tess had just spun around in their puffy dresses before church.

"Okay Kate, we're just going to take your temperature…" Susan began, and then laughed as Kate's hands flew to her backside, "This one goes in your ear, sweetie."

Doug came over just as Susan put the thermometer in Kate's ear. Tess was happy sitting in the lounge with her piece of cake and telling Haleh, Chuny and Mark all about her life in Seattle. Every detail needed to be covered from her teacher's dogs name to what color the tiles in the bathroom were. "Hey babe, what's going on with Miss Kate?"

"Doug, where's Tess?" she asked immediately.

"She's fine, Carol, she's with Haleh, Mark and Chuny; talking their ears off of course. She's got a piece of cake, she should be happy for at least another 20 minutes." Dough joked.

"101.5 ((38.6 Celsius)), looks like someone has got a fever." Susan interjected. "I think you've got a little case of gastroenteritis on your hands, guys."

"Carol, why don't you go see everyone in the lounge, I'll take care of this little monkey." Doug said, giving her a smile and a kiss.

"It's good to see you again Doug," Susan smiled as she finished up with Kate. "I'd say don't be a stranger, but I have a feeling I'll be seeing more of you. Let's just hope it's in a good way, right?"

"Carol! Hey girl, how's Kate?" Chuny asked, giving her a big hug and a piece of cake.

"Mommy, look I got cake! Can I give some to Kate too and to Auntie Elizabeth?" Tess asked, a big grin on her face, along with crumbs and frosting at the corners of her mouth and somehow on her nose.

"That's great, Tess. Auntie Elizabeth had to go to work, and your sister isn't feeling so good, but it was sweet of you to think of her." Carol said, brushing Tess' hair back from her face. "So, what have you guys been talking about?"

Carol couldn't help snickering as Tess launched back into her lecture on all things Seattle, and took a seat next to Haleh who immediately asked what Kate had, "Just stomach bug, nothing serious."

"What a way to start a vacation." Haleh teased.

"You have no idea," Carol whined, "I'm just waiting for Tess to get it. Then she'll give it back to Kate who will return the favor; it's just a never-ending cycle with these two."

"Well you know that anytime you and Doug need a little alone time, we'd be happy to keep them busy." Haleh said with a grin.

"Yah, I'm sure we can spare 15 minutes every now and then!" Chuny laughed, giving Carol a little jab.

"What's 15 minutes for?" Tess asked innocently, not understanding the joke.

"Nothing baby, don't worry about it." Carol said quickly before giving her friends little jabs and collapsing back in laughter. "You know I'm going to hold you to that."

"Well, as long as the 15 minutes isn't right now…" Haleh trailed off as the room had become almost completely empty with people needing to get back to work.

"So Carol, should we hit up DocMagoo's for a little dinner?" Mark asked. It was nearly 7pm and despite the piece of cake he'd just eaten, he was definitely hungry. That and he'd promised to pick Rachel up at 7:30 from her friend Gina's house.

"You know what Mark, I think it's a little early to eat for us we're still on Seattle time; and I'd really like to just get Kate to bed." They were subletting the furnished apartment next door to Mark and Elizabeth for the summer and could only hope it had been decorated with young children in mind.

"No problem Carol, why don't you and Tess get all ready to go and I'll go find Elizabeth. She said she was just going to finish up some paperwork." Mark said as he walked towards the door.

"Thanks Mark," Carol smiled, grabbing a napkin to wipe the mess off of Tess and cleaning up the plates with cake crumbs. One thing that definitely hadn't changed was the willingness of ER staffers to dive into a cake party. The cake, which once read, 'Welcome Home Hathaway-Ross Family' now merely said, 'ome Ho ay-Ro'. Smiling to herself, she wondered if the message wasn't meant to entice them to remain in Chicago and come back to the ER, but had to remind herself that she loved Seattle and it was all her girls really knew.

"Okay kiddo, you ready to go and see where we're going to live for the next three months?" Carol asked Tess who was bouncing off the walls after her piece of cake.

"Then can we going to the park or the zoo or the movies?" Tess asked, excited and jumping on the couch. Carol grabbed her hand and helped her hop off the old couch, then kept a good grip as she was dragged out the door by her overly excited child.

"Okay guys, we'll see you later! Thanks so much for the welcome back," Carol said as she waved to her former coworkers. "Say thank you, girls."

"Thanks for my cake! Bye!" Tess called as she skipped out the door with Carol in tow.

"Kate says thank you too," Doug whispered as he carried his sleeping daughter out of the ER, wondering what Mark had planned for them later.


	5. Dinner with Friends

It was now Doug's turn to sit between the twins as Mark took over the driving and Elizabeth moved back a row to sit next to Carol. The two talked as Mark drove through the streets to pick up Rachel. Throughout the conversation the two had, they seemed to be constantly over powered by Tess speaking loudly and excitedly about who she'd talked to at the ER. Carol knew it would be a whole different volume level as soon as Rachel joined the group, and tried to prepare herself.

"Tess, this is Mark's daughter Rachel. You met her when they visited us a few years ago." Carol informed her.

"I don't remember!" Tess called out to her mother.

"You were 2, sweetie, but we have some pictures of you and Kate with Rachel on the boat. Do you remember those pictures?" Carol asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"No! Mommy can Rachel sit with me and Daddy can sit up front?" Tess asked, again in a loud voice.

"Not right now sweetie, but as soon as we get to the place we're staying, maybe Rachel will take you to her house and show you her room." Carol said, hoping it would be okay with Rachel.

"Can Kate come too?" She asked excitedly.

"No baby, it's just going to be you and Rachel this time, but maybe later…" she began.

"That's good, only big girls that don't have to be carried by their Mommy's get to go!" she insisted, hoping for a reaction from Kate. All she got was the sound of her sister sleeping, the steady breathing that she'd heard virtually every night of her life, consciously or unconsciously.

"Mommy, how come it's dinner time here already?" Tess asked. She knew that it couldn't possibly be time for dinner, yet somehow everyone else seemed to be interested in talking about it.

"It's a long story, Tess. I'll tell you later, okay?" Carol said, trying to get back to Elizabeth and all the gossip she had.

"Can we sing a song until we get there?" Tess called out again, then began singing at the top of her lungs, "This is the song that never ends! Yes it goes on and…"

"We're here!" Mark announced happily, hoping that Tess would respond in a way other than speech or song. "Okay, everybody out!"

Rachel reluctantly got out of the van, knowing it would mean she'd need to entertain a couple of six year olds. She didn't normally mind babysitting little kids, but these kids seemed very loud, at least from what she remembered of them as 2 year olds. She headed towards the entryway to the building when she was stopped by Mark asking her to assist with the luggage. "Do I have to dad? Couldn't they get it?"

"Rachel, come on, give us a hand. At least would you take Kate's suitcase up for her?" Mark asked as nicely as he could, trying not to grate his teeth.

"Fine, whatever." Rachel said, seeing that Kate was in Carol's arms and basically asleep.

"I want to take my suitcase up like Rachel!" Tess called out as she grabbed her suitcase and ran over to where Rachel was standing. "Are you going to show me your room and we can play with all your dolls?"

"I don't have dolls anymore; I'm too old for them." Rachel said, not quite thrilled about already entertaining the child.

"That's so cool." Tess said as she slipped her hand into Rachel's. "Can we have a sleepover party and jump on the beds and play Operation and Candyland?"

"I don't know, I think your parents would rather…" she was interrupted by Mark who was coming up behind them quickly.

"I think that's a great idea, don't you Rachel?" hinting that should she not agree there might be some sort of lecture given.

"Um, yah. Great idea." She said glumly. "So you're Tess, right?"

"Yes and I'm older and taller by a whole inch and I weigh 4 whole pounds more so I am lots more grown up because I'll be the first one to be safe without a booster seat." Tess said proudly.

"So, Tess, how do people normally tell you two apart?" She asked, knowing there could be some problems there.

"I'm the pretty one." Tess said matter-of-factly.

Rachel thought to herself, 'Great, identical twins and the way I'm supposed to tell them apart is she's the pretty one? They're identical!' But instead she said, "Oh, okay."

"Okay guys, here we are." Elizabeth said as she opened the door to the apartment. It seemed quite spacious for a Chicago apartment and seemed to be tastefully decorated without any breakables around.

"I want to see my room!" Tess squealed as she ran towards the back. She flung open the first door and was slightly disappointed to only find a bathroom. It was nicely decorated as well, however, having a bright polka dotted shower curtain and some frilly window treatments. The next door she came to was also flung open and there she found a smaller room with twin beds, with matching pink Strawberry Shortcake bed covers and linens.

"I get this bed!" Tess screamed to anyone who could hear her and jumped onto the bed located closest to the door. It was right up against the right hand wall, just the position her bed was at home. Rachel dragged Kate's suitcase in and set it down, just in time for Tess to grow bored with her activity. "Rachel, can I see your room now?"

"Yah, I guess, let me just put these suitcases over near the closet." She replied; looking at the suitcase Tess had dropped in the middle of the room.

"Okay! I'm going to go to the bathroom!" Tess announced as she rushed across the hall, nearly taking Mark and Doug out. She poked her head outside the door for a moment to squeal, "I love my room Daddy!"

Doug and Mark merely shook their heads as they dragged the rest of the luggage into the room at the end of the hall that would be the master bedroom. It was a nice sized room, but nothing compared to the room they had back in Seattle. The bed had very dark accessories, but it was generally to their liking and the second bath was definitely a plus. As Doug and Mark set suitcases up to be unpacked, Elizabeth stealthily went next door and set up a few gifts they'd gotten for the arrival on the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, Carol carried a slightly more awake and very cranky Kate into the room where Rachel had started unpacking the twins' clothes. "Oh, thank you Rachel, you didn't have to do that."

"It's not a big deal." She replied, holding up a tiny dress, "How do they fit into this stuff?"

"I have no idea, but they probably just got that roll of the genetics dice," Carol joked, setting Kate down on the bed that Tess had previously claimed to be hers.

"Um, Tess said that…"

"This is her bed?" Carol asked, quickly scooping Kate back up and putting her back down on the opposite bed. "They're very particular about that sort of thing, thanks for letting me know."

"So, is she like sick or something?" Rachel asked, gesturing over at Kate who sat with her arms crossed and head down in a pout.

"Yah, she's got a stomach bug." Carol said, "Actually it would really help me out if Tess could stay over with you all tonight. I know that's a huge imposition and I'd be willing to pay you…"

"You don't have to pay Carol, we'd love to have Tess stay over," he looked at Rachel with his 'Dad look', "wouldn't we Rachel?"

"Hey! Speak for yourself, Dad, I need the money! There's no way I'll be able to get a car if I can't earn some cold hard cash." She said with a sly smile on her face.

Tess wandered back into the room, wide eyed and grinning ear to ear, "Mommy they have SpongeBob soap."

"Tess, do you want to spend the night at Rachel's house tonight? You could have a pajama party if you promised to get to sleep by 11pm." Carol said, knowing that their usual bedtime was only a half hour earlier than that because they had yet to adjust to the local time. While it certainly felt like 8pm to Mark, Elizabeth, Rachel and the rest of Chicago, it only registered as 6pm on the internal clocks of the visiting 4.

"Can I wear my new pajamas with the hearts on them?" Tess asked hopefully.

"You can wear whatever pajamas you want, Tess. Why don't we get those out right now and some clothes for tomorrow, and you and Rachel can go over to her house with Mark and Elizabeth?" She encouraged.

"Okay!" Tess agreed excitedly. "Rachel do you know what? In Seattle me and Kate share a room and we have a whole part of our closet just for our pajamas. Do you have a just pajamas part of your closet? Me and Kate also have stuffed animals and we have dolls and games and a tea set and…"

The voice of Tess trailed off as they left the apartment. After Carol finished changing Kate into her pajamas, she tucked her in and made sure to plug in a nightlight before walking over to where Doug was standing, arms wide open. Carol fell into them graciously; the hug was something she'd needed since she woken up that morning. It was a big job to travel with little kids, and while she'd always been aware of that fact, every time they traveled she realized she'd forgotten how much trouble it could be. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, babe." Doug replied, rocking his wife back and forth awhile, giving her some much deserved attention and love.

"Hey guys…" Mark interrupted. Seeing that he'd come at a bad time he turned to leave but Doug called him back.

"What's up, buddy?" he asked.

"I'm interrupting, I'll come back." Mark said, embarrassed and heading for the door.

"Mark, it's okay. We see each other everyday, we see you once every couple of years." Carol said smiling, still holding on to Doug.

"Well we were going to have a little dinner, pop open a bottle of champagne and you know, have a little toast." Mark said, inviting them to join him.

"Oh, that sounds so nice but…" Carol trailed off.

"We have a baby monitor, Carol." Doug said.

"Yes, but it's back in Seattle, Doug. That's really not going to help us here in Chicago." She reminded him, giving him a kiss.

"Ah, but that's where you should be happy you married such a brilliant doctor." Doug said as he ran back to the bedroom they'd share and pulled the old baby monitor from one of the suitcases.

"Oh my G-d Doug, you brought it with you?" she laughed.

"Carol, in all the vacations we've ever taken with the two of them, when have we not had the need for this?" he asked.

"You have a point there." She smiled and kissed him again, longer before taking the monitor over to the girls' room. Kate was awake and sniffling unhappily. "Hi baby, what's wrong?"

"Bongo." She said, lowering lip sticking out. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and repeated, "Bongo."

"Oh, okay let's find Bongo." Carol said as she set the monitor down on the nightstand and walked over to the suitcases and carry-on bags. She reached into Kate's bag and pulled out a worn golden-brown teddy bear, handing it to her daughter who immediately tucked him into the bed and held him tightly in her arms. "Daddy and I are going to go have a little dinner at Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth's house, are you going to be okay here?"

"What if I need you?" she asked concerned.

"If you need me, you just say so and I'll come right over, okay? We have the 'big girl' monitor so we can hear you if you need anything." Carol said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Now try to get some sleep, okay?"


	6. Dessert

"And me and Kate have our own cubby holes at school but they're going to be someone else's now because we're in second grade, and we get to go visit our Daddy's office and we make him lots of pictures and he puts them on the wall so everyone can see them and we make them for Mommy too but she doesn't have an office but she has lots of friends who she shows them to and they think that we're good at drawing and…"

"Tess honey, let's have some dinner now, okay?" Carol called, seeing the exasperated look on Rachel's face. Tess obediently ran over to the table and climbed into a chair, sitting on her knees so that she could more easily reach things. Mark and Elizabeth brought out a large bowl of salad and some French bread. Tess made a face and looked to her mother, "Just a little salad Tess."

"Don't worry Tess, there's some pizza coming." Elizabeth smiled as Tess gobbled down her newly served salad.

"Okay, I ate my salad, can I have the pizza now?" she asked, eyes sparkling with excitement. "Do you like pizza Rachel? I love pizza."

"Pizza is okay." Rachel said in-between forkfuls of salad.

"What's your favorite kind? Do you like olive pizza?" she asked.

"Not really," Rachel admitted. For a 6 year old she found an awful lot of things to talk about and Rachel wondered if she'd been that bad when she was that age.

"Me neither!" Tess exclaimed. "Daddy, did you hear that? Rachel doesn't like olives on her pizza either!"

"That's great Tess," Doug replied. "But why don't you give the rest of us a chance to talk now?"

"You know what would help me be quiet, daddy?" Tess said, not waiting for a response before answering her own question, "Pizza."

Mark sighed before excusing himself and returning with a big slice of cheese pizza. "Do you like cheese pizza?"

"Yes! It's my favorite!" Tess said happily as it was set down in front of her. "Thank you Uncle Mark!"

"You're welcome." He said politely. Although he hadn't really believed that the noise would cease once she had the pizza, he was happy to find out it did. Tess definitely knew who she was and what she needed to say to get her way. "So Doug, Elizabeth was telling me about some interesting positions available at county."

"Mark…" Doug warned. "We're here on vacation and that means no work for 3 months."

"Well, after those three months have you two considered…"

"Mark!" Carol said in a hushed tone, "We're not moving to Chicago. We're thrilled to see you guys, but we couldn't do that to the girls."

"Told you so." Elizabeth replied with a smug grin on her face.

"Told me so?" he replied. "This was your idea!"

"My idea? Oh, I don't think so." Elizabeth replied, swatting him and then kissing him before assisting him in clearing the salad plates and brining out pizza for the remaining 5.

Carol, who was enjoying the good conversation and recollection of old times was constantly turning her head towards where the white receiver sat. Being as preoccupied as she was, it was difficult to continue a conversation straight through and after Tess and Rachel had left the table to play a rousing game of war ((a simple card game involving pure luck, which can take upwards of an hour to finish)) she gave up trying to be discreet. Doug knew what she was thinking and said, "Why don't I go check on her."

"Thanks Doug," she said gratefully, giving him a long kiss as Mark and Elizabeth looked on, smiling as if they'd intruded on a private moment. "I'll be right back."

"So, Tess tells me that you've got the girls in gymnastics?" Mark said; sifting through the mountains of information he'd heard in the lounge.

"Well we thought it'd be fun for them, and they don't seem to notice that we're gone when they've got other activities." Carol laughed. "You know, they're at that age where everything is about them, and if it's not it's got to be taken personally."

"Do you two get to see each other as much as you'd like?" Elizabeth asked, knowing how difficult it was for them to completely coordinate their schedules so they could be off at the same time.

"Since Doug has a private practice it's a little easier to find the time, but he goes in pretty early in the morning so we'll try to do lunch or grab some coffee before picking the girls up; it can be a little complicated." She admitted. "We do have a lot of time at the end of the day though, it's nice that neither of us work nights, so while he's pretty much on-call all day and night, there's rarely a problem. Our latest challenge has really just been getting the kids to give us some couch time."

"They're in that 'if it's not about me it doesn't matter' phase?" Mark asked.

"Yes! When does it end?" Carol's voice dropped melodramatically.

"I'm still waiting." Mark laughed, thinking about his own daughter.

"Got something you want to share with the class there Mark?" Carol asked jokingly. She knew he'd had his trials with Rachel, and certainly having a teenage daughter was a lot to contend with, but they seemed to get along relatively well.

"Hey, why don't we break open that bottle of champagne when Doug gets back?" Elizabeth asked, trying to stay involved in the conversation.

"Sounds good to me," Carol replied, "So tell me more about what's been going on since I left."

"Oh you know, the usual. Kerry's gotten a bit worse since Dr. Lewis arrived, but I suppose that's to be expected." Elizabeth admitted.

"You know, they never really got along the first time she was here, I'm surprised Susan even wanted to come back with Kerry around." He shook his head as Doug walked back in the door, holding a box of chocolates.

"Chocolate for Madame?" he said, holding the box out to Carol and Elizabeth. "Monsieur? Chocolate?"

"Thanks Doug, great." Mark said; grabbing for one of the chocolates, as Elizabeth popped the top on the bottle of champagne.

Carol looked anxiously at Doug for a second before he caught the hint and said, "She's fine; from the way she looks she's been asleep since we left her room."

Carol laughed while Mark and Elizabeth sat puzzled, "Tangled up in her sheets. Both twins, about an hour after they've fallen asleep, wind up twisted and tangled in their sheets in some very interesting positions."

"She's got her foot next to her ear right now and the sheet is tucked behind her head." Doug laughed, "I took a picture for keepsake. So how are things going with Rachel?"

"She's a teenager." Mark answered.

"That bad, huh?" Doug joked. "She seems like a good kid Mark, she's always been a little independent, but you know…"

"No, she is, she's a great kid but she's growing up. Next year she'll be a senior in high school." Mark said, turning his champagne glass absent mindedly.

"I think he's got a bit of the early empty nest syndrome." Elizabeth said playfully.

"Hey, next thing you know Kate and Tess are going to be off to high school and the four of us can be miserable together," Doug joked. Carol stuck out her lip in a pout, similar to one the girls used on him when they weren't getting their ways. "What's wrong?"

"Doug, I can handle them being in second grade, but did you have to skip all the way to high school?" she asked. The group then moved over to the living room and relaxed on the couches, Doug and Carol not missing a second of cuddle time. Soon their conversation died down as Mark and Elizabeth were visibly exhausted and, after checking her watch, Carol said, "Maybe we should let you guys get to bed. It's definitely time for Tess to get to sleep."

Mark nodded, "I think we've definitely had enough for the day, but it's the champagne that really did it for me. What do you guys have planned for tomorrow?"

"Well we were planning on hitting the zoo, but maybe we should save that for another time." Doug said; thinking of Kate and knowing she wouldn't be going anywhere the following day.

"No Doug, Tess has been looking forward to going to the zoo for weeks; you take her and I'll stay with Kate." Carol responded after tucking Tess into a sleeping back on Rachel's floor. "Would Rachel want to go to the zoo?"

"Well, I can't say I've ever known her to turn down the chance to be around animals, but I'm not sure if…" he began.

"If she'd want to spend the day with Tess?" Doug laughed, finishing the sentence for Mark who simply nodded. "Well if tomorrow morning she'd like to come along then I'm sure Tess would be thrilled. If not, I'll be over around 11am to grab Tess so we can go out."

"I'll let her know tomorrow morning." Elizabeth said; Mark had an early shift and would be at the hospital by 6am so there was little chance of him seeing them the next morning.

"Good night guys and thanks." Carol and Doug hugged them good night and remembered to grab the baby monitor before heading back to the apartment they were staying in. They walked back to the apartment, arm in arm, Carol's head resting on Doug's shoulder. Silently they entered the apartment and turned off the lights after making sure to lock the door. Doug went to set the baby monitor down in their room and brushed his teeth. A few minutes later he walked back into the hall to find Carol leaning against the door frame of the twins' room, smiling softly. "She looks so sweet, doesn't she?"

"Yah, both of them do when they're sleeping." Doug replied, and then whispered into her ear, "Too bad it doesn't last."

"Doug!" she laughed, closing the door part way so she wouldn't wake Kate up with her laughed. "You are so bad!"

The two of them headed into their room for the night, both falling asleep with smiles on their faces; the end of the day having come what seemed like weeks after it'd started.


	7. A Zoo Day

**_Authors Note:  
_****Lauren**- I absolutely LOVE getting all your reviews, I really do… and I mean this in the nicest way possible… **PLEASE stop with the G-d stuff**! I respect your religion and beliefs, but I'd honestly prefer you not review my story if you're going to write that stuff at the end. Also, if I do include Jeanie and/or Lucy it probably won't come up for awhile because I'm really not focusing this story on them.  
**Angie, HP, Neela, everyone else**- Thank you so much for taking the time to read this story! It's definitely giving me the inspiration to keep working on it! I'm sure you guys all know that getting reviews (good or bad) inspires one to keep going!

* * *

The next morning Doug woke up to the sound of an alarm clock buzzing. He was almost positive he hadn't set the alarm, and groggily rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, squinting at the numbers. When he saw it was 10am, he flipped over quickly to wake Carol and was surprised to find she was nowhere in sight. He jumped out of bed, throwing on his robe and rushed out the door. Checking the twins' room and finding it empty, he continued down the hall after seeing the empty bathroom and went into the living room. It was there that he spotted his wife asleep on the couch with Kate resting comfortably at her side in a warm embrace. He decided not to wake them up, figuring they'd had a long night and went to get ready for the day. After taking his shower and getting dressed, he headed into the kitchen to prepare a little breakfast. It was then that he noticed the gift basket Elizabeth had left for them. He decided not to peek into it just then, wanting to wait until the entire family was together. Realizing that they had virtually no breakfast food and it was nearly 11am, he went over to Carol and gave her a kiss on the cheek, waking her up. 

"What?" Carol said softly as she began to wake up, Kate still in her arms, "What's going on?"

"Shh, it's just me," Doug said, stroking her hair, "It's almost 11, I'm going to take Tess to the zoo. Everything okay here?"

"Um," she said, looking at the sleeping child, "Yah, we had a little problem last night but I think everything's okay."

"Okay," he whispered. "I've got my cell and my pager with me incase you need anything. Have a good day."

"You too." She said, kissing him softly before he walked out the door. She then promptly fell back to sleep. They'd been up for 3 hours in the middle of the night and she hadn't gotten Kate to fall asleep again until 6am.

"Daddy! Daddy guess what me and Rachel did this morning?" Tess said, thrilled to see her father. "Guess what! We put on makeup! Don't I look grown up?"

"Yes you do, but I think we're going to be wiping that off before Mommy sees you, right?" Doug chuckled, looking over at Elizabeth who innocently put her hands in the air. "Why don't you go wash your face so we can go to the zoo?"

"We're going to the zoo?" Tess asked, nearly breaking the sound barrier. "Can Rachel come to the zoo, can she please?"

"What do you say Rachel? Would you like to go to the zoo with us today?" Doug asked, not wanting to put Rachel on the spot, but not having much of a choice as Tess waited eagerly for a reply.

"Sure, I guess. Did my dad say it was okay?" Rachel asked, a complacent smile adorning her face. Truth be told, she had fun with Tess the previous night, she didn't mind babysitting too much, and Tess was an interesting kid. When she wasn't around too many people she could even be downright quiet and contemplative. "Just let me get some things."

Doug smiled as he watched Rachel and Tess go off to get ready for the zoo. "So, how much trouble was she?"

"Oh, she's a real sweetheart, Doug. Truly it was no trouble at all." Elizabeth said with a smile, handing Doug a cup of coffee. "You know they're both welcome anytime."

"Thanks Elizabeth." Doug said, giving a charismatic smile that made his eyes twinkle.

"How long do you expect you'll be gone?" she asked, unsure if she and Mark would be expecting people for dinner or not.

"I'd say we'll be back by 5:30, if not I'll call. I don't think I could stick Carol with Kate duty all day while I get to play in the zoo with Tess." Doug said.

"How is she doing?" Elizabeth wondered, a bit concerned about her new neighbors.

"You know what, I actually have no idea." He responded, shaking his head, "When I woke up, Carol and Kate were asleep on the couch and I'd bet good money they're going to be out at least until 2pm."

"If you'd like I could check on them a bit later," Elizabeth volunteered.

"No, I'm sure if Carol needs anything she'll call." He reassured her. As Tess ran out of the bathroom, face cleaned and jumped into her father's arms, Doug gave a little grunt, not quite expecting to have her suddenly in his arms.

"Daddy, can we go to the zoo now? Is mommy and Kate ready?" she had a large grin on her face.

"Are…" he corrected.

"Are mommy and Kate ready?" she asked again.

"Mommy and Kate are going to have a rest day; it's going to be just you, me and Rachel." Doug said, wondering how she would react to the news.

Tess was silent for a moment, considering her feelings. She certainly wanted her twin with her, as well as her mother, but those desires weren't strong enough to complicate what would otherwise be an exciting activity so she said, "Then can we go?"

Rachel appear in the living room, dressed appropriately in jeans and a T-shirt, holding her backpack which contained a camera, a hat, a handheld fan, her cell phone, and a few various accessories. "I'm ready."

"Great! Last one to the car is a rotten egg!" Doug exclaimed, putting Tess down, but not moving a muscle. "Wait, scratch that thought. We don't have a car. Tess, how would you like to go on a trip in a Taxi?"

"We're still going to the zoo, right?" Tess asked, concerned that plans may have changed without her knowledge.

"Yeah, still going to the zoo." Doug laughed, taking her hand in his. The last thing the family needed was to have a child run into the middle of the street.

"Doesn't Rachel have to hold hands too?" Tess asked, knowing that all kids were supposed to hold their parents hands.

"Uh, sure." Rachel said, grabbing Tess' other hand as the three went out to the street to attempt to hail a cab.

"So, Rachel, what's your favorite part of the zoo? The last I remember you were very attracted to anything of the equine variety." Doug said, trying to make conversation as Tess colored in her coloring book, swinging her legs back and forth.

"I guess I like the seals the most, they have a pretty cool training demonstration in the afternoon." Rachel admitted. She wasn't completely comfortable in the situation, not knowing Doug or Tess very well, but she tried to make the most of it.

"Know what I like Rachel?" Tess asked, semi-replying to the question Doug had asked Rachel. "I like the gorilla's the most! They are the best animals!"

"Cool." Rachel said, then returned to her previous activity of staring out the window.

"Daddy can I have ice cream when we get there?" Tess asked sweetly, she had a sincere love of everything sugary.

"Maybe, we'll see what we can find when we get there. Rachel, would you like a snack when we get to the zoo?" Doug asked.

Tess looked at Rachel with her big brown eyes, hopeful that she'd say yes. "Sure, I guess ice cream wouldn't be too bad."

"Chocolate, right?" Tess asked her two older companions.

"Oh yeah, it has to be chocolate if it's touching my lips," Rachel joked. Tess simply smiled in response to that comment and imagined the ice cream she was going to get once they arrived at the zoo.

As the cab pulled up to the zoo's entrance, Doug paid him, giving him a healthy sized tip and grabbed Tess up, giving her raspberries on the cheek as they approached the ice cream shop. The line wasn't too extraordinarily long, and Doug, Rachel and Tess stood in it, Doug joking around the entire time. When they were in the front of the line, Doug ordered 3 chocolate ice creams in waffle cones, knowing that Tess would more than likely get halfway through with hers and lose interest in it. Doug grabbed 2 of the cones, letting Rachel take her own from the man, and led them over to a bench so they could wrap the ice cream up in napkins to prevent leakage. The ice cream was cool and flavorful and both girls seemed to really be enjoying their treats. Doug liked the ice cream as well, but was surprised at the substantial cost, attributing it to the fact that it was a "free" zoo. When the three had finished, Doug took great care to wipe the chocolate off of his daughters face, it was smeared from cheek to cheek, forehead to chin of the little 6 year old girl who had managed to eat nearly ¾ of it before making a face and dumping it into the trash can. Rachel, of course, had eaten hers quite neatly and still had only gotten ¾ of the way through her cone before she had to dump the monstrosity. Doug had finished his quickly and all that he had left was a wrapper to the waffle cone.

"All right everyone," Doug said, reaching into his own backpack, "hats on… and let's move!"

Tess grabbed her hat from her father and placed it snuggly on her head, gripping his hand and pulling him towards one of the zoo maps. "Daddy I want to go see the gorillas!"

"Tess, Rachel is our guest, don't you think we should ask her what she wants to do?" he reminded her.

"No!" she said quickly.

"It's okay Doug, the Gorilla's are a good place to start, they're pretty close to where we are right now and the seals show isn't until 2pm." Rachel said as she pulled her ponytail through the back of her hat.

"Gorilla's it is then." He announced with a goofy grin, doing a silly scarecrow walk towards the enclosure.

"Daddy!" Tess shrieked, "We have to act normal in public! Remember Mommy said to be on our best behavior when we're in Chicago?"

Doug laughed and walked normally with Tess and Rachel to look at the animals. Sometimes he wondered if zoos were really such a great thing to have in a country which supposedly valued freedom above all other liberties. The gorillas sat in their enclosure, perfectly satisfied to ignore the gawking visitors. One, a particularly large female, was picking at her baby and Tess found this especially fascinating as she got as close as she could to the walled off animals.

"Daddy look what she's doing! She's eating bugs!" she exclaimed. "Rachel, look she's eating the bugs off him! When my class went to the zoo this year our teacher told us that's what they do instead of combing their baby's hair!"

"That's cool Tess." Rachel said, observing how the gorilla's interacted with one another. If she was smart she could find a way to take notes on the entire trip and turn it into some sort of extra credit project for a class the following year. "It should be feeding time pretty soon; you're really going to like this."

"What do they do for feeding time?" Tess inquired, looking up to Rachel who seemed to know everything about the zoo.

"You'll see, just watch… it's really cool" Rachel assured her. Just as she'd spoken, food began to fly from above the enclosure towards the animals and they excitedly began attempting to catch the food and steal it from the larger gorillas. The smaller ones were especially amusing as they tripped over themselves, trying to stealthily snatch food that the larger ones hadn't noticed.

"Daddy, look! Look at that one! Look it stole the melon from the big one!" Tess shrieked, she could think of nothing better than what was going on in front of her eyes.


	8. Your Choice

Carol woke up some time later with a vague recollection of Doug telling her he was taking Tess to the zoo; she carefully moved her arm out from around Kate and tried to slide off the couch without disturbing her. She smiled with relief as Kate stayed put and she quickly ran to the bathroom to get her shower in and get dressed, hoping to be back before Kate woke up. It was nearly 2pm, definitely time for her to be awake and more than past breakfast, in fact it was nearly lunch Seattle time. After Carol got out of the shower, she walked back into the living room, wrapped in a towel, hair wrapped similarly and checked on the still sleeping Kate. Again, smiling to herself, she dried her hair and got into some comfortable clothes for hanging around the house. While Carol didn't want to expose anyone to Kate's illness more than she had to, she was getting restless for some conversation so she checked Kate once more before heading over to Mark and Elizabeth's door. Knocking quickly, she was happy to see Elizabeth. "Hey Elizabeth, when are you on today?"

"I've actually got the day off, then I'm on again tomorrow all day." She admitted. It was nice to see Carol, but she was slightly concerned that she didn't have Kate with her. "Are Doug, Tess and Rachel back, then?"

"No, um, actually if you thought your immune system could stand a test, I was wondering if you'd like to come hang out with me for a while. Kate's out cold on the couch, I'm going to put her in bed in a sec and I'm honestly dying for a little intelligent conversation." She confessed.

"Sure, I think I can handle it," Elizabeth smiled sweetly, grabbing her keys and phone in case Mark called.

Carol poked her head into the apartment she'd just left and signaled to Elizabeth to be very quiet. Then she leaned over, gently picking up the pajama clad child and carrying her into her bedroom. After tucking her into her bed, Carol gave her a kiss on the forehead, the best way for a mother to check her daughter's temperature without machinery. It wasn't normal, but certainly wasn't a high fever, so Carol tucked her daughter in with Bongo the Bear and closed the door ever so slightly.

"They've really grown, Carol. The last time I saw them they were practically toddlers; now look at them." Elizabeth smiled.

"I know, some days I wake up and just for a second I think they're babies again... that is until I hear them fighting." She sighed.

"Do they get into arguments a lot then?" she asked curiously. Since she'd never had children aside from her stepdaughter Rachel who was a teenager by the time she and Mark tied the knot, she didn't know what sibling rivalry would be like between two little girls.

"Oh, every morning it's another argument over clothes or who's hogging the bathroom or who gets the pink bowl… we've basically got labels on every object in the house denoting whose property it is." She admitted, pulling her hands up her face and back through her hair. "So tell me about you and Mark."

"We're fine… I'm afraid there really isn't much to tell at this point. We haven't got any big news," Elizabeth admitted.

"Well is there any little news you'd care to fill me in on?" Carol laughed giving Elizabeth a nudge. She knew there had to be something interesting going on. "Come on, I've been gone for over 6 years, something must have happened in that time!"

"Really, we're just about the same as we always were. It's of course a bit of a challenge having Rachel here, but she's a great girl." Elizabeth said with a fond smile.

"Well I wouldn't have wanted to start out with these two when they were teenagers that's for sure." Carol admitted.

"No, it's great getting to know her and you know watch her grow up…"

"But…" Carol enticed Elizabeth to say more.

"But nothing! Carol, really you're trying to get me in trouble here." She laughed. "I love having her here, and I'm happy to be able to be her stepmother."

"Okay, I'll buy that." Carol said, chuckling, "So what about everyone else at county? Carter, Kerry… Jerry for that matter! I hardly got to see anyone yesterday!"

"All right, for a short rundown on everything that's been going on, however un-newsworthy," Elizabeth started with a grin and a laugh, "Romano is still the sexist pig he always was, though he seems to have gained a bit more of a grasp on reality of late. Kerry is about the same as when you left, she's got her opinions of course and is full of reasons why they're right, but she's got a heart at the same time… well occasionally. Then of course our Mr. Carter…"

"Mommy!" Kate called out loudly, interrupting Elizabeth's last piece of information. "Mommy, Daddy, where are you?"

"Coming Kate!" Shaking her head, Carol got up with a sigh, looking at Elizabeth with a half-smile, "The joys of parenthood."

"I'll go with you if you'd like," Elizabeth offered, getting up off the couch. Carol looked concerned about this offer but Elizabeth reassured her, "I'll be fine; you have to remember I'm around sick people all day."

"Okay, your choice," she said as the two made their way to the now screaming Kate.

"Mommy! Mommy where are you?" Kate hollered, a pout making her already pink face seem even more pink and pathetic looking.

Carol walked over to the side of Kate's bed, pulling up a chair next to it while Elizabeth sat on Tess' bed, across the room from Kate. "All right Miss Grumpy, what's going on?"

"I'm not grumpy." Kate whined, sticking her bottom lip out. She didn't like being teased and especially not when she was feeling under the weather.

"Okay, not grumpy." Carol relented. "What's going on Kate?"

Kate simply crossed her arms and held Bongo tightly, resting her chin on his head; she wasn't ready to talk about it with a stranger in the room, even if the stranger was her Auntie Elizabeth.

"Kate, baby I don't know what you want. You're a big girl and you need to tell me what's wrong like a big girl or Auntie Elizabeth and I are going to go back to the living room and finish talking." Carol said sternly. She knew Kate was just trying to get things her way and sometimes she needed to be reminded of the fact that she wasn't the center of the universe. When Kate still didn't respond, Carol signaled to Elizabeth to get up, and the two headed for the door, expecting to be called back. "When you're ready to talk, we'll be back."

The two walked back into the living room, Elizabeth cautiously checking back over her shoulder, amazed at the interaction she'd just witnessed. Sensing her friend's bewilderment over the situation Carol said, "She was being a little shy with you, we're trying to teach the kids that just because the situation isn't exactly as they wanted it, doesn't mean things can't get done."

"You know Carol, you ought to think about writing a book about these things," Elizabeth laughed.

"Oh sure, in all my spare time," Carol laughed back. She knew that it would likely be sooner rather than later that Kate would decide she wanted the company back so didn't get too comfortable. Shortly thereafter, Carol's cell phone rang and she answered it, making her excuses to Elizabeth. As luck would have it, Kate began calling for her mother again just as Carol had begun chatting. Putting her phone away from her mouth slightly she said, "Elizabeth could you possibly do me a big favor…"

"You mean go in and check on Kate?" she inquired. With the nod of Carol's head Elizabeth stood up with a smile and said, "Of course I will, but I don't know that she'll be as happy about it."

"Thanks Elizabeth!" she said before going back to the phone call. It wasn't that she wanted to ignore her daughter's calls, but there was a pretty important conversation she seemed to be getting into with her own mother.


	9. Liquid Goo

Elizabeth proceeded back down the hall towards the small room and after knocking softly she entered, not sure if she'd be receiving a pleasant greeting or not. "Hello Kate."

Kate frowned and looked anxiously towards the door for her mother. After a few seconds had passed, she looked back towards her visitor with the same pout she'd had earlier. It was pretty obvious she wasn't happy about something, but whether she'd be willing to share why was another matter entirely.

"You know me Kate; I'm your Auntie Elizabeth." She said with a kind smile. "Your mum's on the phone at the moment, is there anything I can do to cheer you up?"

"No." Kate said firmly, hugging Bongo and trying not to let her chin quiver. She knew it would give way to the tears that were trying to fill up her eyes if she couldn't control it and she didn't want to cry at that moment. As Elizabeth put a chair close to Kate's bed, and looked into her big eyes, Kate couldn't help herself and let a tear run down her cheek, and then she began to cry audibly. "I want my mommy."

Elizabeth wasn't entirely sure if it was a 'pity me', 'hug me' or 'leave me alone' cry, but knew that whatever it was it seemed to be getting the better of the small child. Opening her arms to Kate she asked, "Do you want a hug?"

Surprised to find Kate immediately open to the idea, she went over and sat on the bed next to her, giving her a hug and rubbing her back, hoping the crying would slow down. When it didn't slow, Elizabeth pulled her into her lap and continued rubbing her back, "What is it Kate? What's wrong? This can't all be over your mother, can it?"

Kate simply cried, she didn't quite know why she felt the need to continue crying, but it just continued on. She'd been through a lot in the past 24 hours and only wanted to be back at her house, in her room, with her blankie and her mommy comforting her. To reply to Elizabeth's question seemed a nearly impossible task but she managed to get out, "Mommy."

It seemed to be a hopeless cause and Elizabeth knew that Kate wasn't going to calm down without her mother so she picked the child up, wrapped in a blanket and still clutching her bear, and carried her slowly into the living room where Carol was still on the phone. Kate seemed to calm down a little at the sight of Carol and Elizabeth was glad that something had finally worked to help her cries subside. She knew that while Kate would probably prefer to have her mother cuddling her and taking care of her, it might be a good idea if someone took her temperature so she set Kate down on one of the bar stools and scanned the apartment in search of a thermometer, figuring that with Kate being sick it must have been used in the past 12 hours. She was right and spotted it on the bathroom counter. Fortunately it was an ear thermometer so Kate didn't object to having it placed gently inside her ear; the fact that it took a shorter time to calculate the temperature was simply an added bonus in Elizabeth's eyes.

When it beeped and she removed it from Kate's ear, she caught an inquisitive look from the young child and asked, "Do you want to see what it says?"

Kate, who was doing her best to act like a big girl and not cry, nodded her head and looked at the numbers it flashed at her. "One hundred and three point one?"

Elizabeth checked the thermometer herself, then felt Kate's face and the back of her neck. Carol, who was in the middle of a battle with her mother over when or if the girls would be attending church with her, had missed the entirety of the incident and was surprised to feel Elizabeth's touch on her shoulder. She turned around quickly, brow furrowed once she noticed the expression of concern coming from her friends face.

"Mom, I'm going to have to call you back… no mom… no… mom? Mom, I'll… yes… no… mom, yes… no I'll tell him… ma? Okay, I love you too… okay, no… okay bye." After ending the call she looked at Elizabeth, feeling her pulse quicken, "What's wrong?"

"Carol, her temperature's 103.1 ((39.5 Celsius)), I think…" she was almost instantly cut off by Carol who rushed to her still pouting child and began checking her.

"Kate, baby, mommy's going to get you some Tylenol to help you feel better, do you think you can try some?" she asked quickly, and before Kate had a chance to answer she added, "Elizabeth we've got some liquid Children's Tylenol in the bathroom, could you possibly grab that for me?"

"Of course." She said as she rushed off to the bathroom, noticing for the first time the charming accessories that had been placed in it to make it perfect for the twin 6 year-olds who were staying there. She got back to the main living area quickly and took no offense to the manner with which Carol ripped the bottle out of her hand and poured some into the little cup for Kate to drink out of.

"Come on Kate, just drink it down please and you'll start to feel better." Carol coaxed. "You know that Tylenol helps you get better so you can go out and have fun."

"No." Kate said flatly. She still had vivid memories of the previous night when she'd had some of the liquid Tylenol and it had come back up just as quickly as she'd swallowed it.

"Is your tummy feeling bad again?" Carol asked, hopeful that the answer would be no and they wouldn't have to experience a repeat of the previous nights activities.

"I don't know." Kate said, clearly not in a pleasant mood. Carol continued to hold the cup in front of her and eventually Kate gave in and drank it down. When there was no immediate rejection of the medicine, Carol let out the breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding and caught sight of Elizabeth's curious expression.

"Don't ask." Carol said, picking up her daughter, blanket and all, and carrying her back towards her room. Kate was resting her head on her mother's shoulder and the only one who knew what was about to come was Elizabeth who tried her best to warn her.

"Carol!" Elizabeth cried out as Kate regurgitated the medicine that seemed to have gone down so smoothly. Carol barely had time to react as she felt the liquid goo hit her neck and shirt. She tried to remain as calm as possible, shifting Kate to her right side until she could set her down in the bathroom. After Carol was done cleaning Kate up she cleaned herself up and apologized to Elizabeth for the unpleasant circumstances she found herself in. Thinking over the events that had just occurred, including the fact that while Kate had been crying quite a bit there had been few actual tears falling from her eyes, Elizabeth said only, "Carol, I think you should consider taking her back to County. Mark's on, I'm sure he'd be happy to look after her; she's got to be dehydrated if she can't even keep Tylenol down…"

"Actually, I was just going to ask if you could give us a ride down there." Carol admitted. Kate was now wearing a pair of pink athletic pants, a white tank top, and white hoodie; she didn't bother trying to find shoes for her daughter who seemed perfectly satisfied in socks, and they made their way towards the door, Carol remembering to grab her keys and cell phone before they walked out the door. Elizabeth retrieved her car and brought it over to where Carol was standing with Kate in her arms. Opening the door, Carol sat in the back seat with Kate who had begun to cry again, not one who was enjoying change very much at that point. "Thanks Elizabeth, I really appreciate this."

"It's not a problem Carol, but do you think you could give Mark a ring and let him know we're coming?" she asked, knowing that while Mark would be happy to take care of Kate, it was always the best plan to call and see what was going on there first.

"I'm on it," Carol said as she pulled out her phone, and then paused looking puzzled for a moment before asking, "Has the number changed in the past 6 years?"

"I don't believe so," Elizabeth chuckled as she drove the familiar route to the hospital.

"Hi, is Mark available?" Carol spoke clearly into the phone, happy that she still remembered the phone number to the place she'd worked so long ago. "Mark Greene, he's a doctor… are you a temp? Okay, is there anyone else at the desk with you right now? Good, put one of them on the phone. Tell them… no, tell them it's Carol Hathaway. Yes, THAT Carol Hathaway… hello? Hello? Oh Chuny, thank G-d, is Mark around?"

"Yah, hang on a second Carol," Chuny said, calling out to Mark, "Hey, you've got a call from Carol. He'll be right there."

"Carol?" Mark asked into the phone, confused as to why she was calling. "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

"Are you busy?" she asked, knowing it was a stupid question.

"Well, so far no major problems," he replied, repeating his earlier question, "What's going on?"

"I was wondering if you'd have time to check out Kate, she's still feeling a little under the weather, I'm worried about dehydration; and I'd feel better if someone checked her out." Carol admitted.

"Sure, hang on a sec Carol… we've got a GSW coming in the door right now, but I'm sure someone can see her." Mark said, not bothering to wait for a reply before hanging up and snapping on a pair of gloves.


	10. Smile and Nod

When the trio arrived, the ER was a crazy swirl of paramedics, nurses, docs and patients. Elizabeth walked over to the desk, searching for Mark, and was disappointed to find a disinterested temp sitting by the phone eating some nachos. "Excuse me, have you seen…"

"Waiting room's over there… if you'll wait for a minute a doctor will be right with you." He said without looking up from the car magazine he was reading.

"Listen here you… I don't know who you think you're speaking to but…" she trailed off as she spotted Kerry, "Kerry!"

"What's going on Elizabeth? Mark is tied up right now, so he's not going to be able to…" she spoke slowly, wrinkling her forehead as her glasses swung at her neck.

"Kerry, is Susan free?" Elizabeth asked quickly, trying not to let Kerry's patronizing tone get too much under her skin.

"Susan's in trauma 2 working a hit-and-run," Kerry said quickly.

Carol approached, seeing that the conversation wasn't going well between the two women, and was sure that having Kate in her arms would at least prevent whatever the discussion was from getting too terribly out of hand.

"Carol, what a surprise to see you back so soon." Kerry said, moving to her left side to see who was hiding her face in her mother's arms. "Is this Kate?"

"Yes, look, Kerry I know it's really busy in here so we can come back later." Carol said, not sure if she wanted to have her daughter looked at by someone as cranky as Kerry was at that point. After receiving a slightly hurt look from Kerry, she relented, "Could you possibly take a look at her, Kerry?"

"I'd be happy to Carol, just go ahead and take her to Exam 3; I'll be there in a couple minutes." Kerry said, without pause.

Carol shook her head and walked over to Exam 3, setting Kate on the bed and looking for an emesis basin- for just in case. Kate, who hadn't spoken a word since before they'd left the apartment, lay back against the hard, paper covered table and gently held onto her bear she'd brought with her. As her mother pulled out a basin and pulled a chair over to the side of the bed, Kate curled up more, not letting go of her bear and closed her eyes. Seeing this, Carol smoothed the hair away from Kate's face, softly tucking it behind her ear. She then began rubbing her back and telling her a story. It took 20 minutes for Kerry to actually finish what she was doing and go to Exam 3, and by that time Kate was asleep.

"Carol I'm sorry it took me so long. An MVA came in right after you and we had to deal with that, but I'm all yours. What's going on?" Kerry asked, in a relatively kind voice.

"Well, I'm pretty sure it's just a bad case of gastroenteritis, but her fever shot up this afternoon and she hasn't been able to keep anything down for 24 hours so I thought it might be a good idea to get her checked out, maybe get her on an IV for some fluids." Carol suggested quietly, not wanting to wake her sleeping daughter; yet at the same time, knowing she needed to.

"I know this might sound redundant, but I need to go through all the questions…" Kerry said as she pulled out the chart.


	11. Jamba Juice

"Bwaaaaaaoooooooooooeeeeeeeeeeh!" Doug made a strange noise, while making faces at the different animals in the enclosure, along with the other 20 people who were doing the same thing. Both Tess and Rachel had lost most of their inhibitions and were gladly making noises and faces along with him. They had visited the polar bears, the penguins, the seals and seen the seal show and were now on to the monkeys, which would need to be their last top as it was nearly 4 and Tess was getting visibly tired. They'd run around quite a bit, and from what Doug could tell, she'd been running around for a few hours before he'd picked them up to go to the zoo as well. "So, what do you girls say we head home soon?"

"No Daddy! Not yet!" Tess protested, "We hardly saw anything!"

"Okay, Tess you may choose one more exhibit to see, and Rachel you can choose one too if you'd like," Doug replied, "but after that we've got to get back."

"Rachel you choose first!" Tess insisted.

"How about the Rhino's?" Rachel suggested. She wasn't a big fan of the smell, but liked the exhibit quite a bit.

"Daddy I want to go see the rhino's now!" Tess called out, grabbing her fathers hand to drag him over to a zoo map. "Look! I found them!"

"Across the zoo, Rachel?" he asked her, shaking his head. "All right, if we have to see the rhino's then I guess we have to see the rhino's."

Tess ran nearly all the way there with Doug and Rachel in tow, looking forward to what she'd see. The crowds had begun to clear out once they'd reached the rhino's and an announcement was made that the zoo would be closing in half an hour. This excited Tess even more and after 10 minutes around the rhino exhibit she insisted on her choice of a final activity. "Daddy I want to ride the carousel!"

"Tess, we only have 20 minutes before the zoo closes, I'm not sure if the carousel is a good idea." He tried reasoning with her.

"I want to go on the carousel!" she squealed, garnering the attention of the few stragglers in the area. "Daddy I want to ride the carousel!"

The volume and pitch of her voice had reached levels that Doug swore could shatter glass, so instead of arguing with her, he picked her up and the three made a mad dash for the carousel. There was time for one ride, and they were the only people still asking to ride it. Tess sat happily next to Rachel while Doug watched from the sidelines after being admonished by his daughter for taking so long to reach the coveted attraction.

"Daddy, are you watching?" Tess called out from her seat. "Daddy! Daddy take a picture of me and Rachel!"

Doug obeyed, trying not to laugh too hard or he'd ruin the shot. He knew Tess would be requesting another trip to the zoo before they'd even gotten home, but he tried to take it all in stride. The three of them climbed into the taxi and sat quietly for a couple minutes before Tess started up again.

"Can we have a snack Daddy?" she asked. It was already 5:30pm, and that meant it had been over 3 hours since they'd had a snack. When they'd first arrive ice cream had been the treat of choice, a couple hours later it had been cotton candy and popcorn, Tess decided she was also in the mood for a smoothie from Jamba Juice, "I want a Jamba Juice!"

"Tess, it's almost dinner time here," Doug said, remembering to add in the 'here' so she'd have a more difficult time arguing that it didn't feel like dinner. "Besides, don't you think Mommy will be a little sad we didn't take her with us if we go home with them?"

"We could get her one too!" Tess said, a grin on her face, she knew how to get her way and had been getting it all day, "Please Daddy? You can call her and ask her what kind she wants and if we can have them! I know she'll say yes!"

"You know, we probably aren't going to eat until like 7pm or later, and Razzmatazz is like my favorite drink right now…" Rachel suggested with a twinkle in her eye. She definitely wouldn't mind having a smoothie before dinner, and if it would make Tess stop whining she was all for it. "I know where there's one really close to the apartment."

"You two are dangerous, you know that?" Doug joked, pulling out his cell phone, "D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S, dangerous."

"I love you daddy!" Tess said in her sweetest voice.

"She hasn't said yes yet." Doug replied, winking his eye at his daughter and Rachel.


	12. No Worries

_"Can we have a snack Daddy?" she asked. It was already 5:30pm, and that meant it had been over 3 hours since they'd had a snack. When they'd first arrive ice cream had been the treat of choice, a couple hours later it had been cotton candy and popcorn, Tess decided she was also in the mood for a smoothie from Jamba Juice, "I want a Jamba Juice!"_

_"Tess, it's almost dinner time here," Doug said, remembering to add in the 'here' so she'd have a more difficult time arguing that it didn't feel like dinner. "Besides, don't you think Mommy will be a little sad we didn't take her with us if we go home with them?"_

_"We could get her one too!" Tess said, a grin on her face, she knew how to get her way and had been getting it all day, "Please Daddy? You can call her and ask her what kind she wants and if we can have them! I know she'll say yes!"_

_"You know, we probably aren't going to eat until like 7pm or later, and Razzmatazz is like my favorite drink right now…" Rachel suggested with a twinkle in her eye. She definitely wouldn't mind having a smoothie before dinner, and if it would make Tess stop whining she was all for it. "I know where there's one really close to the apartment."_

_"You two are dangerous, you know that?" Doug joked, pulling out his cell phone, "D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S, dangerous."_

_"I love you daddy!" Tess said in her sweetest voice._

* * *

"She hasn't said yes yet." Doug replied, winking his eye at his daughter and Rachel. The phone went right to voicemail; confused, Doug hung up. He scrolled down the numbers in his phone, searching for 'Mark Home' and pressed talk, waiting for someone to answer. When that phone went to a message machine, Doug began getting a little concerned. The next number he thought to dial was Elizabeth's cell phone, but hesitated, knowing that it was most likely Carol hadn't gone anywhere with Elizabeth and if Elizabeth had gone to visit Carol, then Carol would be answering her phone and not have it turned off. In the midst of his pondering the situation, his phone began to ring and Tess grabbed it out of his hand to answer.

"Hello?" she said happily. She loved to talk on the phone; both she and Kate had always enjoyed gabbing, even when it was over their toy plastic phones to each other.

"Hi Tess, what're you doing answering Daddy's phone?" Carol asked with a chuckle.

"Mommy, can me and Rachel have Jamba Juice?" she asked. "Daddy said we couldn't unless you said it was okay and we could get you one too, please!"

"Let me talk to Daddy, Tess, and we'll see about the smoothies." Carol answered calmly, trying to keep her cool as she waited for Doug to take the phone from Tess.

"Daddy, it's for you!" she said excitedly, holding it towards Doug but stealing it back at the last second to get another good plea in for her smoothie, "Bye Mommy, I love you!"

"Carol?" Doug asked, as he got the phone back from Tess. "What kind would you like? Razzmatazz, Aloha Pineapple…"

"Doug," she interrupted, "I need to talk to you about something…"

"Sure, what's going on Carol?" he asked, suddenly worried. Her tone of voice wasn't one that was telling him everything was fine, rather the opposite.

"I'm at the ER right now with Kate. Elizabeth gave us a ride over and Kerry's about to start checking her over. It's fine if Tess wants a smoothie, but we're not going to be home when you all get back and I didn't want you or them to worry about us." Carol said quickly. Kerry seemed to have asked every question under the sun, even the ones she knew the answer to; and Kate had responded by vomiting directly onto Kerry and the chart, then proceeded to cry.

"What? Is she okay?" he asked in a hushed tone, turning away from Tess, who happened to be in her own little world coloring in her book.

"I think it's just that same stomach flu Doug, but I'm worried about dehydration." She admitted. She didn't want to worry him which was why she'd waited so long to phone him.

"Do you want me to head over there?" he asked, preparing to tell the driver to go in another direction.

"No Doug, the last thing we need is to expose Tess to the ER again. I can't handle two sick kids." Carol put her hand to her head, she was getting a headache.

"I'll just take Tess and Rachel to Jamba Juice then, do you want me to get you something and freeze it?" he asked quietly.

"No, that's really okay, but maybe you could entertain them a while longer? And if you could possibly ask Rachel if Tess would be able to sleep over again…" she asked as she saw Kerry emerge from the locker room with clean scrubs on. "Thanks Doug, I've got to go."

"Sure sweetie." He answered just before he heard the click. "Looks like we're going to Jamba Juice ladies."

Carol hung up the phone at the desk and thanked the baffled temp as she jogged to catch up with Kerry. "I'm really sorry Kerry."

"It's not a problem, Carol. These things happen." She responded simply as she walked with Carol towards Exam 3.


	13. How High

_Carol hung up the phone at the desk and thanked the baffled temp as she jogged to catch up with Kerry. "I'm really sorry Kerry."_

_"It's not a problem, Carol. These things happen." She responded simply as she walked with Carol towards Exam 3._

Elizabeth was standing next to Kate, rubbing her back. It looked as if she'd fallen asleep again, and Elizabeth said goodbye quietly before she headed out of the room to go find Mark. "I'm going to need to wake her up."

"All right, let me get her." Carol said, walking over to her daughter. "Kate, it's time to wake up please. Kate, it's time to get up now, come on Kate."

"No." Kate whined; her voice was hoarse from the crying she'd been doing of late, and after being pulled up to a sitting position, she renewed her objections simply saying, "No."

"It's okay Kate, my name is Dr. Weaver and I'm going to take good care of you." Kerry said, moving cautiously towards the girl who had previously given her cause to change.

"No." Kate cried as Kerry walked towards her. She held on tighter to her mother, having no desire to be examined at that point in time.

"Kate, remember what we talked about?" Carol asked, cupping Kate's chin in her hand and tilting her face upwards, "We're going to be in and out, the faster you let Dr. Weaver do her job the faster we can go home."

Kate nodded her head as Kerry moved closer and picked up the thermometer, carefully inserting it into her ear as the 6 year old held tightly to her mother. Kerry checked the number and wrote it down quickly, then completed the rest of her checkup, eyes, ears, nose, throat, BP, etc. before saying, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Kate didn't reply and Carol asked, "How high is it?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Carol," she said, not answering the question. "Kids spike fevers all the time."

"Kerry," she said with a little anger in her voice, "how high is it? I'm not some inept stay-at-home mom, I'm a nurse."

"Hey Carol!" Chuny said, bursting into the room. "I thought I saw you come in. What's going on?"

Chuny made her way over to Kerry and looked at the chart, "Aiy, do you want me to get her on fluids?"

Getting fed up with not having an answer from Kerry and worried by Chuny's reaction to Kate's chart Carol demanded an answer, "Kerry! I realize we've never been close, and that I've been away from Chicago for 6 years, but I am a medical professional and any other parent who asks what their child's temperature is would get a straight answer. Now what is it?"

"Her temp's 104 Carol, but I don't want you to worry, she'll be fine." Kerry said dismissively.


	14. Chow Fun

_"Hey Carol!" Chuny said, bursting into the room. "I thought I saw you come in. What's going on?"_

_Chuny made her way over to Kerry and looked at the chart, "Aiy, do you want me to get her on fluids?"_

_Getting fed up with not having an answer from Kerry and worried by Chuny's reaction to Kate's chart Carol demanded an answer, "Kerry! I realize we've never been close, and that I've been away from Chicago for 6 years, but I am a medical professional and any other parent who asks what their child's temperature is would get a straight answer. Now what is it?"_

_"Her temp's 104 Carol, but I don't want you to worry, she'll be fine." Kerry said dismissively.

* * *

_

"Carol, do you want to hold her while I do this?" Chuny asked, not expecting such a big blowup out of her friend who was normally a consummate professional. Carol nodded and took Kate into her lap, holding her tightly so that it would be harder for her to wiggle out and make Chuny miss the vein that she already knew would be tough to find. Her cries could be heard all the way down the hall as she was stuck, and Carol didn't let go of her for a second, knowing it was important but also knowing how painful it could be. Twenty minutes later she was resting comfortably and Carol left her in the care of the nurses she'd once known so well. Sitting in the lounge as she entered was Mark, obviously worn out after the hectic day he'd had which started nearly 12 hours earlier.

"Hey Carol, I heard about Kate." He said; looking up as Carol moved towards the old coffee machine. "You know, that stuff will kill you if you're not used to it."

"I'll risk it." she smiled, pouring herself a cup and collapsing into a chair. "So what's on for tonight? Anything exciting?"

"Well, we were thinking about a night out, leaving Rachel to baby-sit the girls, but I'm not sure that's a good idea." He said.

"I think another night in would be best," Carol admitted slowly. "I think Doug was going to talk to Rachel about Tess sleeping over again."

"That should be okay, we could grab some Chinese or something." Mark suggested, and then added, "Does Tess like Chinese food?"

"What? Of course she does. She will eat basically anything you put in front of her as long as Doug or I eat it." Carol chuckled, "She's definitely an experimenter when it comes to food; if she's never heard of it she'll eat it if the main ingredients are something she's heard of. Kate is a little pickier, but she's still pretty open to new foods."

"Anything in particular she likes more?" Mark asked, trying to get some idea of what to order for dinner.

"Well, she's partial to all things noodle right now, so chow fun would be advisable; lemon chicken, she's on a mu shu chicken kick lately…" Carol trailed off, giving Mark time to process.

"So everything, huh?" he joked. Elizabeth walked in, pushing the door open and sitting next to Mark. He immediately put his arm around her as they continued talking. "Carol, maybe you should check in with Doug, let him know how she's doing."

"You want me gone, huh?" she laughed, getting up and dumping the rest of her coffee. Mark had been right, that stuff would kill you. She walked over to the desk and commandeered the phone once again much to the dismay of the temp. Dialing Doug's cell, she waited for him to pick up, trying to figure out what she wanted to do that night.

"Hello." Doug answered, he sounded out of breath.

"Hey Doug, what's going on over there?" she asked, hearing loud and excited voices in the background.

"Little game of DDR, I'm telling you Carol giving that child more sugar was not the best idea." He chuckled. "So what's going on with Kate?"

"She's okay, Chuny's monitoring the IV, she's got a pretty high fever but it was going down a while ago. I think we'll be home tonight, but I'm not sure when. I don't want to leave until she's had something to drink on her own." Carol said, thinking about Kate.

"Well if for any reason she can't come home tonight, I'm going to go over there and you're coming home." Doug said assertively, "Tess hasn't seen you all day, and I could really use a break from Twin A."

"Don't worry Doug, I could use a break from Twin B. Oh, listen, Mark and Elizabeth were about to head back… Chinese food. That okay with you?" she hoped he'd say yes.

"Sure, anything's fine with me as long as it comes to me and I don't have to go to it." he laughed. "Call me if you need anything."

"All right, I will." Carol smiled again, shyly. She hung up the phone and smiled to herself again, did she have the best husband or what?


	15. Story Time

"Mark, are you sure you've got enough cash for this?" Elizabeth asked as they were heading towards the doors.

"I think so; did you want to stop by the ATM before we head home?" Mark asked, grabbing his jacket.

"Hey guys, let me give you some money for all this." Carol said, catching up to them with a $20 in her hand.

"Carol, please, it's our treat. You've got enough to deal with." Elizabeth said, turning around.

"Really guys, I feel bad letting you pay for everything." Carol insisted. She couldn't help feeling guilty over letting Elizabeth and Mark buy them things and drive them places without reimbursing them for at least some of the costs.

"I'll tell you what, when Kate's feeling better you and Doug can take us out to a nice restaurant, but until then don't worry about it." Mark said, pushing her hand down. "Why don't you go back to Kate, I'm sure she'll be awake soon."

"Thanks guys." Carol smiled.

"Do you want us to save you something?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled the keys out of her pocket.

"You know, I'm really not that hungry…" Carol started.

"Carol if you don't take care of yourself you're going to wind up in a bed next to Kate." Mark said insistently.

"Maybe some lemon chicken, rice, oh some spicy tofu would be great." Carol said, running down a list of things as her stomach growled. "I might just grab a couple choice items from that snack machine if it still works."

"You and Doug were the only two who could ever get that thing to work. I don't think they've replaced that stuff since you started working here though." Mark laughed.

"Mark! You are terrible! Now come on or there will be a terrible wait to pick up our order." Elizabeth laughed as she pushed him out the door. "Carol, if you need a ride back you give us a ring, all right?"

"Thanks guys." Carol said, heading over to the old snack machine. With 3 quarters she was able to secure 2 candy bars and a bag of pretzels. As she headed back to Kate she laughed to herself, "Nothing to it…"

Kate lay still in the bed listening to the story Chuny was telling her. She was pretty sure it was made up, but the part about twin princesses sounded pretty good to her so she listened quietly and didn't interrupt to ask if it was a true story. "… and then the princesses…"

"Hey baby, how are you feeling?" Carol interrupted. Kate appeared a little happier and that spoke volumes about how she was feeling.

"She's doing really well, Carol." Chuny smiled, checking the IV one last time before grabbing the chart and walking out the door with Carol. "She's a cute kid; I can't believe it's been so long since you visited."

"I know, it's hard to find the time with Doug's work, his practice seems to be growing pretty rapidly." Carol admitted, leaning against the wall and peeking back into the window on the door to ensure that her daughter was still settled.

"It's strange having her in there and not being able to treat her, isn't it?" Chuny asked, flipping through some papers to point a couple things out.

"It's just hard." She sighed. "I mean I know in my head that she probably would have been fine if I'd just kept her at home and tried to ease her into drinking some water, but my heart was just being ripped apart and knowing that she was hurting was… it never gets easier."

"You know, you can probably take her home in a couple hours. She's still got a pretty high fever going and we could treat her until it goes down, but chances are it's going to stay up for awhile." Chuny said, handing Carol the chart.

"I'd like to get her home, but not having a car makes it pretty hard to get her right back here if need be." Carol said, looking at the notations. Kate's fever had fluctuated from 103-104.5 in the time they'd been at the ER and she wasn't sure if taking her home before it was below 102 was something she felt comfortable with.

"You want me to get Dr. Weaver?" Chuny asked.

"She's still on?" Carol handed the chart back to Chuny and massaged her temples and head, pushing a few stray curls back.

"All night" Chuny laughed. "I could see if Susan's free if you'd like."

"No; no it's fine." Carol said, weighing her options. Kerry, whether she wanted to admit it or not, was being very kind and helpful and she didn't want to insult her by going to another doctor after Kerry had already taken the case.


	16. Makeup and Mommies

A/N – Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. I always like to feel completely comfortable with what I've got up, and lately I just haven't had the time to work on any of my stories. Thanks for hanging on and enjoy the two chapters I've added!

* * *

"What on earth happened here?" Elizabeth asked as she walked in on Doug, Tess and Rachel laying on the ground laughing. The Twister mat beneath them was pretty well hidden by their limbs which were slung in different directions.

"I lost." Doug laughed, getting up and helping the other two to their feet. "I almost had them, but right foot blue did me in."

"I would have won if Daddy didn't fall down!" Tess insisted. She'd been using Doug to lean against as she'd attempted to reach the other colors, and when he fell it was all over for her. "Rachel won on a technicality."

"Yah, but I still won." She smiled, giving Tess a nudge. "Do I smell broccoli beef?"

"Yes, but go wash your hands first." Mark said, making his way over to the kitchen to set down the large bags of steaming hot food.

"Dad, I'm 17. I think I know to wash my hands before I eat." Rachel said, giving him a look. Then, preparing to make a run for it she added, "Doug's the one you should be talking to!"

"So, it sounds like you had an eventful day today." Doug smiled as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink. "How's Kate doing?"

"She's all right I think." Elizabeth said as she helped to unpack the food and get the plates and utensils out. "Did you have fun at the zoo?"

"Oh yeah," Doug said as he dried his hands. "You know Mark, Rachel's a great girl, smart, funny, kind… must be Elizabeth's influence."

"Hey!" Mark called after him as he'd already moved to the dining room, ready to get down to the food. Rachel and Tess joined him shortly thereafter and sure enough, Doug had started them chanting as Mark and Elizabeth got everything ready to serve.

"Rachel can you make me and Kate all pretty tonight with makeup?" Tess asked excitedly as she waited for the food to be served.

"Tess I don't think…" Doug said as he was cut off by his energetic daughter.

"Rachel said we could wear her makeup again later and that she'd do our hair too!" Tess insisted. "She promised!"

"I know that but…" he tried again.

"And then me and Kate are going to look like grown ups just like Rachel!" Tess smiled as the steamy food was placed on the table.

"Tess, Kate isn't going to be up for getting made up tonight, but maybe you and Rachel can have a makeup party." Elizabeth explained calmly. She knew it wasn't really her place but Doug wasn't having much luck getting a word in.

"Why?" she asked innocently.

"Well, your sister is still a little sick and she needs to get better before she has a makeup party with you." Elizabeth said.

"I don't want her to be sick anymore!" Tess screeched. "She's just faking! I want her to come have dinner with us right now! She has to have dinner with us! She's faking!"

Doug was shocked at first when Tess started throwing a tantrum, then he went into full dad mode and said sternly, "Tess, are you going to have a problem eating dinner tonight? Do you need to go on a time out?"

"No! Kate does! She's taking mommy away the whole day!" Tess screamed as Doug got up and took her by the hand into the living room. He sat her on the couch and crouched down to her level, turning her head with his hand so she faced him.

"Tess, your mommy is taking care of Kate and she'll be back tonight to tuck you in, maybe even before that so you can have some time with mommy, okay?" Doug had to turn her attention towards him again as the group at the table had turned their attention back to their dinner and away from the angry child. "Now, is this really about mommy and Kate being gone all day or is it something else?"

"It's no fair. Kate always gets to spend time with mommy and mommy didn't even get to go to the zoo and we didn't even get to give her a smoothie and I didn't even get to see Kate all day and she's my sister and I'm supposed to see her." Tess said with a pout on her face.

"I know you miss Kate and mommy, but they'll go to the zoo with us another time. The zoo isn't going anywhere." Doug reassured her as Tess sighed.

"Can we eat dinner now?" she asked after a moment of silence.


	17. Anywhere but Here

"Hi Tess, is daddy there?" Carol asked, sitting on the cool pavement and leaning into the side of the building. It was nearly 9pm and all she wanted to do was get home, but she knew that wouldn't happen easily.

"No, daddy and Uncle Mark are playing ball outside. Mommy, they said I couldn't play because it was dark outside but they're playing in the dark! It's not fair!" Tess complained, though she was happy to hear Carol's voice.

"Well, I'm sure they had a good reason." Carol assured. "Can you go find Daddy for me? Ask Rachel or Elizabeth to go with you if you don't know where they went, okay?"

"I don't want to!" Tess argued. "I want to talk to you! You weren't here all day and it's not fair."

"I'm sorry Tess, but you know what? The sooner you give the phone to daddy the sooner I'll be home." Carol knew that an offer like that would most likely not be refused and was happy when she heard Tess call for someone to take her to where 'Daddy is playing'.

"Mommy?" Tess asked quickly. "Can Auntie Elizabeth take the phone to Daddy? I have to go to the bathroom."

"Sure Tess, just give her the…" she paused as she heard a loud bang, "Hello?"

"Hello?" a voice asked at the other end.

"Hello? Elizabeth?" she asked again, confused.

"Hi Carol," Elizabeth said with a laugh. "I think it was a bit of an emergency, but I don't think she broke the phone when she dropped it."

"Great, could you get Doug for me?" Carol asked, wondering if the message had fully been relayed.

"Sure, what's going on over there? How's Kate doing?" Elizabeth asked as she walked out the door and over to the elevator.

"I swear if it's not one thing it's another with this place. I finally get Kate to try and sleep again and a schizophrenic walks into the room shouting about green paint! It's almost like things have gotten worse since I left." She admitted, pulling her knees in closer.

"I suppose Seattle is much calmer then here?" she asked.

"I wouldn't say calmer, no, we just get a different type of crazy. I guess there's just less physical violence against people, more against fish and coffee." Carol laughed, happy to have someone to talk to.

"Carol, I've got Doug here, he wants to know if he can shoot this last basket and make my husband completely miserable before I hand him the phone." She laughed.

"Oh sure; why not." Carol chuckled. She remembered how much Doug and Mark enjoyed playing basketball, and realized that he hadn't really done much of that with anyone in the past 6 years. She laughed even harder when she heard the disappointed voice of Mark giving up after Doug had resumed playing and sunk an easy basket.

"Hey Carol, how's everything going over there?" he asked, somewhat out of breath after playing ball for so long.

"It's okay; I think she might end up staying the night Doug…" Carol trailed off. The fun conversation was over; it was time to get serious. "Doug, I think you'd better come here and stay with her."

"Sure, anything you need Carol?" he asked, frown lines creasing his forehead. He didn't like to hear his wife so worried, especially not about one of his children.

"No, I think I should go back there and spend some time with Tess tonight before she thinks I've abandoned her or something." She sighed.

"She was getting a little cranky about that today, I'll uh… I'll borrow Mark's car," he looked over to Mark, who gave him a nod, "I just want to hop in the shower and put some clean clothes on. I should be there in half an hour."

"Okay Doug, I'll see you soon." Carol smiled, she felt almost heartsick, knowing that it would again be a night that they wouldn't be able to have much time together as a couple or a family. Things just didn't want to go their way, and she hoped that this wasn't a trend that would continue through their entire vacation.

10 minutes later Doug was driving through the once-familiar streets of Chicago, secretly wishing they'd never taken the trip, knowing it wouldn't change anything. While he was thrilled to see old friends and allow the girls to have some great new experiences, things had changed quite a bit in the years since he'd moved to Seattle and it seemed like so many people (Mark included) were trying to insert them quickly and neatly back into the lives they'd left in Chicago. He tried not to let his mind wander too much and was relieved when he pulled up to the hospital, parking quietly and finding the area relatively empty. One of the street lights was out and he made a mental note to walk Carol to the car; he worried they'd lost some of their tough outer shell while living the good life in suburban Seattle.

He walked into the ER and was greeted with open arms by Malik. The two chatted for a short time as he looked around for Kerry. He knew that it would be a good idea to find out exactly what was going on with Kate before he heard the slightly tainted version from his wife. As she was nowhere to be found, he headed to Exam 3 to see the two of them. What he found initially made him smile. Carol was sitting on a stool, feet balanced precariously on the bed next to Kate while her head was leaning against some equipment, fast asleep. Kate, who looked as peaceful as Carol, was quite a different sight when he walked around the bed and saw her face. The color was almost completely drained and she was sweating bullets. He shook Carol awake, checking Kate's IV line and the monitor she was hooked up to.

"Doug? What's wrong?" she gasped as she shot back to a conscious state, her feet slamming onto the floor from the jump she made out of her seat. Looking at Kate, seeing how much she must have looked to him, she understood his concern. "She's vomited 4 times in the last 2 hours. Believe it or not, her fever's actually down from where it was 20 minutes ago."

Doug shook his head, if 104.7 was down he didn't want to know what it had been previously. As was typical in children (and even adults) her temperature had risen significantly as the evening closed in. Running his finger along Kate's extended arm he called softly to her, watching her eyes slowly blink back the light, "Hey princess… daddy's going to spend the night with you as soon as he walks mommy to the car. Will you be okay here?"

Carol was watching her daughter carefully, the fact that there was only a sluggish reaction didn't necessarily signal cause for alarm, but having spent the day with her sick child, she knew what it did mean. Calmly, she reached over and held Kate up as she once again expelled the purely acidic contents of her stomach into the emesis basin. As luck would have it, Susan was walking over to check on Kate, after Kerry got stuck handling a man who took a header off the 3rd floor of the hospital and someone managed to land direction on top of a passing ambulance; and it allowed Doug to walk Carol out to the parking lot. "She can't even talk right now, her throat is too sore from all the vomiting. I know she's happy to see you though."

"I wish there was another way to do this," he chuckled as the two strolled out towards the parking lot, hands intertwined. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss as they reached the van, then they shared a longer one, and another, and another. By the time she'd pulled out of the parking lot, Doug longed to be in the van with her, to be anywhere but where he knew he would be for at least the next several hours.


	18. Picture This

AN-- It's a short update and this section may get longer, but I didn't want to leave you all hanging so long.

* * *

"Mommy! You're home!" Tess cried as she hurdled towards Carol, who had wearily entered their friends apartment. "Do you know what? Me and Rachel and Daddy went to the zoo today and we saw Rhinos and Gorillas and we got ice cream too!"

Carol smiled and hugged her child, trying to become as enthusiastic as she was, "That sounds like a lot of fun, Tess. Did you take pictures?"

"Yes!" she shouted as she ran towards the camera. "Look, mommy! See! There's me and Daddy and the gorillas are eating lunch and there's the rhino and Rachel and there's me and Rachel on the carousel and that's the polar bears and the penguins and… do you think they like the sun?"

"I bet they like the cold a little better then the sun, but I'm sure they were very happy to see you, Tess." Carol laughed. She pulled back to get a better look at Tess and saw the makeup on her face. Eyebrows raised, she looked over at Rachel, "Makeup?"

"It's just a little bit and I mean we're going to wash it off before we go to bed." Rachel said, unsure if she should be apologizing.

"Isn't it pretty mommy? When Kate is better we're going to all be big girls and look super pretty with makeup on like you!" Tess said as she attempted to climb up Carol like a tree.

"Rachel did a very nice job Tess, and it is pretty… but I think it's time to wash it off now and get ready for bed, okay?" Carol said calmly. It wasn't so much that she didn't want Rachel to put makeup on Tess, more that she wished she'd been consulted first. As Tess and Rachel went off to prepare for their second sleepover, Carol let herself collapse onto the couch.

"How is she, Carol?" Elizabeth asked, concerned by the worried expression on her friends face. "Do you think she'll be coming back tonight?"

"I, um, I doubt it. She was doing okay for a while but her temperature spiked and she just can't stop vomiting." Carol sighed.

"Is this normal for her?" Mark asked, seconds later receiving a death stare from Elizabeth.

"She does tend to get pretty bad when she's sick, actually." Carol responded, head resting on a couch cushion. "She's always been that way, she's either completely well or on her death bed. It's the weirdest thing… and Tess is the exact opposite. She's always got a complaint, but when she actually gets sick she's got minor versions of what Kate seems to get and she's over it in a day or two."

"We saved some food for you if you'd…" he trailed off as Carol hopped off the couch and walked over to where she'd seen and smelled the leftover Chinese food. "I guess that vending machine didn't do much for you."

"Oh, it did plenty… but I missed breakfast and lunch. Vending machines count as midday snacks," she chuckled, "not dinner."


End file.
